Bad behavior
by AiraSora
Summary: "I told you I was trouble with my bad behavior." he said to me as he pushed me up against the wall, claiming my lips in a breathtaking kiss. I, Helga G. Pataki, has officially fallen for a bad boy, something I thought I was too smart to ever do. He is sugar-coated misery, a devil in disguise and a snake with green eyes. I guess it's karma... I have bad behavior too. Cover by jebbie
1. Fight me

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Bad behavior"**

 **Summary:** _ **"I told you I was trouble with my bad behavior." he told me as he pushed me up against the wall, claiming my lips in a breathtaking kiss. I, Helga G. Pataki, has officially fallen for a bad boy, something I thought I was too smart to ever do. He is sugar-coated misery, a devil in disguise and a snake with green eyes. I guess it's karma... I have bad behavior too.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: Through the summary I assume you have already realized that this Arnold is going to be very OOC. He is going to be Rev!Arnold which is something I have noticed is popular in the FanFiction community with other characters and such. You can think of it as Dark Arnold too. Basically, when a character is called "rev" it stands for reversed and means that the character is supposed to be the opposite of what is common or is at least very twisted in the personality.**

 **I wanted to experiment a little more with Dark Arnold without changing Helga's personality. I want to see her get a little counteraction than she gets from the real Arnold in the series (don't misunderstand, I love those two to death!) and so this kind of came to mind.**

 **The title is inspired by the song "Bad behavior" by Jedward. As always, I recommend listening to it just once :3 And part of the summary is a reference to "Cowboy Casanova" by Carrie Underwood, which I also recommend listening to xD**

 **It's not going to be a long story. I can't say how long it will be, but I'm imagining under 10 chapters or so. Every chapter will be minimum 5.000 words as usual. Rated M because of sexual situations, violence and foul language. Happy reading! Ha-ha xD**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 1: "Fight me"

I could feel my head slowly sliding down from my palm as I listened to Bob's ranting. Apparently some client of his had backed out of a million dollar deal and that was somehow related to me. He had been talking about it for so long that my body started to forget that I had just slept for 8 hours straight.

"I don't understand why you couldn't have sucked it up and come with me!" Bob complained in his usual loud voice.

I rolled my eyes. "You've never wanted me at one of those things before so I thought it was suspicious you'd want me to come all of a sudden. And what do you know? I was right! You were trying to pair me up with your business associate's son!" I argued back.

"I wasn't trying to marry you off," Bob insisted somehow awkwardly. Jerk or not, the man knew what was ethically correct. "I just wanted you to charm his son for a bit while I closed the deal. After that you would have been free to do whatever you wanted."

I made a sarcastic hum. " _Charm_ him? Do I detect a sort of compliment in there?" I asked as I put my hand behind my ear for effect.

My dad crossed his arms. "You're a Pataki. You don't have to doll yourself up like other girls to charm a man, especially not one from my world."

" _Your_ world?"

"The world of business, Helga!" Bob exclaimed as if it was obvious. "Men from my world crave girls like you."

I cringed my nose. "Why?"

"Because you're feisty. They want counteraction, it makes it exciting for them. Remember that and you can get far as a business woman."

I blinked in disbelief. "Are you seriously telling your 16-year-old daughter that she should use slutty tricks to get what she wants?"

"I'm not telling you to sleep with anyone." Bob said with a wink and looked up at the clock while I sighed.

I take it back, he doesn't know what's ethically correct. But I guess charming my way to get what I want is better than fighting my way to it. I wasn't sure if that was in fact easier for someone like me in the long run though.

"Time for school, young lady."

I stood up from the couch at my dad's command and walked out of the room. I heard him talking to me, but I wasn't listening. I grabbed my already packed backpack, put on my shoes and walked out of the house without a word. I breathed a sigh of relief when the autumn wind hit my face and stretched for a few seconds before taking off down the street.

My name is Helga Geraldine Pataki, but don't you _dare_ mention my middle name to anyone. It's not like Helga is all that cool either, but Geraldine is just horrendous. Or maybe my opinion is slightly affected by the fact that I don't care much for the people who gave me my name.

Big Bob Pataki is my dad, formerly known as the Beeper King until beepers had a social funeral. Now he sells other gadgets and has somehow managed to make himself almost famous in _his_ world as he calls it.

My mother is Miriam Pataki and she's… a housewife. I believe that's the kind way to put it, but frankly, she just can't get a job. Or keep one even if she gets it. Why? She's a drunkard. That's all there is to it. She used to be this amazing woman who could probably have become president if she had set her mind to it, but along comes my dad and her dreams flew out of the window when she became pregnant with my big sister.

Speaking of the devil in disguise. Olga Pataki is about 11 years older than me. Obviously neither one of us were a planned child and frankly, I think my parents would have split once Olga moved out if my mom hadn't given birth to me. I think it was after they got me that she started drinking because Olga claims to have never seen Miriam with one of her infamous smoothies in her hands.

I was walking down the street of Hillwood on my way to my school on a day that seemed perfectly normal. Mr. Green could be seen through the window to his _Green Meats_ shop, a place I was often sent to on my dad's request. I say request, but it's an order. I looked to my left and saw Mrs. Vitello carry a bucket with what seemed like a million flowers in it. The bucket wobbled in her arms and she desperately tried to keep it steady. On instinct, I ran towards her and grabbed the bucket before she dropped it to the ground.

"Oh, Helga!" Mrs. Vitello exclaimed in happiness as I put the bucket next to the other buckets with the same flowers though I had no idea what any of them were called. "Thank you so much. You know, you have become quite helpful the last couple of years."

I rolled my eyes and looked at the elderly woman sarcastically. "Yes, I'm growing into a real charmer, ain't I?"

"I wouldn't go that far." She responded playfully and laughed. I laughed back politely and waved at her as I continued my walk. "Oh, wait!" she said suddenly and I turned around. I watched as she cut a pink rose off its stem and offered it to me. "As a thank you for your help."

"Oh, but I don't really - - "

"Now, come on, Helga. I know you love pink." Mrs. Vitello said and offered me the rose once again.

I cocked my head to the side. "That's true." I said and took the flower reluctantly. "Thank you."

"Now, go on. I don't want you to be late because of me." Mrs. Vitello told me as she waved at me with both of her hands. I turned around with a smile that faded as soon as she couldn't see my face anymore.

 _What am I supposed to do with a flower_ , I had wondered as I looked at it. I don't care much for living things to begin with, let alone pseudo-living things. I put the rose up to my nose and inhaled its scent. It smelled good, I'll give the old lady that, but I wasn't sure what to do with it. I looked around thoughtfully, wondering where to place the rose while I was at school. Then an idea struck me and I crouched on the sidewalk. I took one of the books out of my backpack and placed the flower inside and closed the book. I had never pressed a flower before in my life and I wasn't sure if I wasn't just breaking the rose by doing it so crudely, but I didn't truly care. Once the book was in my backpack again, I lifted myself off the ground and was ready to continue my walk.

The sound of some boys laughing caught my ears and I looked casually towards the sound. I looked for about two seconds before looking straight ahead again. All I had seen was about three boys standing around in a half circle against the wall inside an alley. I frowned as the image flashed in my mind again and turned to look one more time. I stopped walking when I realized that there was a fourth boy with them, but he sure as hell wasn't _with_ them. Two of them were circled around him, holding him by his arms while the third was punching him in his gut.

I looked around me, confirming that no one else was nearby. Then I ran towards the boys, not giving a damn whether they heard me or not, and threw my backpack once I was close to them. "Hey!" I shouted and just as the one doing the punching looked at me, I raised my fist and hit him square on the jaw. The force from my fist caused him to stumble backwards and he hit a trashcan. He slipped down on the ground and his friends watched in shock.

"What the hell, you stupid bitch!" one of the boys said and let go of the boy they had been attacking.

"What are you messing with us for, huh?!" the other boy asked and raised his fist at me. "Better get outta here if ya' know what's good for ya'!"

Just as he swung his fast at me, I lifted my hand and scrunched his hand in my palm. "Right back at ya'." I said mockingly, pulled him close to me and kneed him in the groin. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain while he held his hands on his crotch as if he thought the pain would go away if he did that.

"Fucking cunt!" the last boy said and lunged at me, grabbing me by my arm. I pointed the elbow of my free arm at his face and whipped it back. I could feel his blood on my arm, but ignored it as I pushed him until he hit the wall behind him.

For a moment, I thought I was finished until I felt a pair of arms wrap around my neck. I choked in surprise, but then put my hands on my attacker's arms. I lifted my legs, forcing him to carry all of my weight and in his surprise, he tumbled forward. Using all of my strength, I made sure he fell directly on his head on the hard asphalt. I stepped away from him in case he would try to grab my legs.

I looked at the three boys around me, one insisting his nuts were on fire, the other with a bloodied nose and a dumbfound look on his face – not that he looked all that intelligent to begin with – and the last who had just turned onto his back and whose eyes were rolling around in his head. If I was lucky and he unlucky, he had a concoction.

"Get outta here!" I warned. The guy who was the least messed up, spit out blood before he stood up. He seemed like he still wanted to fight me, but he looked at the blonde boy and waved his hand at him. He decided he clearly wasn't worth it and helped his buddies stand up. They walked off, one more wobbly than the other, and I smirked at my handiwork.

I looked at their victim, noticing blood trickling down his temple. He had blonde, unruly hair on his oblong-shaped head and was wearing ripped jeans - though I wasn't sure if they were pre-ripped or if the other boys had messed him up that badly - a white t-shirt with black graffiti and a leather jacket. His head was hanging low, but he seemed conscious. I crouched in front of him and lifted his head to examine him, but he put his hands on my wrists. I watched in surprise as he lifted his head and showed me his cut lip and a slowly bruising eye.

"What the hell did you do that for…?" the blonde boy asked in a seething voice, but I didn't really hear him. _Green_ , was all I noticed when I saw his eyes. They were an intense shade of green that I had only seen on landscape paintings and I kept staring dumbly at him until he shook my wrists. I looked at him again, silently asking him if he had said something. "What did you interfere for?"

The adoration I had felt for his eyes disappeared instantly and I frowned. "What, you would have preferred I had just kept walking?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes." He replied and pushed at my wrists which caused me to land on my ass. "I had it under control."

I stared at him in disbelief as he stood up from the ground, using the wall behind him to support himself against. "You gotta be fucking kidding me." I said and he glared at me. I leaned backwards and then whipped myself onto my feet. I stood up straight, giving him one of my colder stares. "Under control? I couldn't see that."

"Then maybe you should open your eyes." The boy hissed and spit some blood out of his mouth.

"What's with your fucking attitude, you stupid brat?" I asked when I noticed his height or rather lack thereof. I knew I was a tall girl, but I was about a half head taller than this boy. He wasn't standing up straight though so my internal measuring tape might have been unreliable.

"Brat?" he repeated in disbelief and stood up straight. I was right, he wasn't as short as I thought, but I was still taller than him.

"Yes, you're a brat. An adult would know how to say thank you." I told him casually. I didn't really care about being thanked, I just resented his attitude. Even _I_ knew when to apologize and thank someone when it was necessary and I wasn't exactly known for my manners.

"I didn't ask for your help."

"That's because you were too busy coughing up blood so I figured I should act before I asked." I argued.

"Don't underestimate me. I'm stronger than those three."

"And yet you're the one with the cut lip and the blue eye."

The boy used his sleeve to wipe the blood off his jaw. "It was three against one." He excused.

"Hm, didn't make a difference to me." I replied cockily and smirked when he glared at me.

"Are you calling me weak?"

"No, I'm saying I'm stronger." I replied and he snickered loudly. "Why is that funny, because I'm a girl?"

"No…" he replied and showed me a smug smile that made my heart skip a beat. It was almost charming, even behind all that arrogance and the blood and bruises. "It's funny because I don't believe it."

"Well, I just took down three guys who ganged up on _you_ and out of the two of us, I'm the one without a scratch." I pointed out and the boy growled in annoyance at my words, but I quickly forgot about him. "Oh, fuck. School!" I exclaimed and gave him one last glare. "Be happy that I'm already late, bratty Football Head!"

"Foot - - " he started in shock, but went quiet when I turned to look at him again. I didn't care if I was being childish, but the guy had pissed me off so I slapped my hand on his head. I didn't put force into it, but he groaned, presumably due to his former beating. Then I stormed down the street, leaving the boy behind. I was still pissed with his attitude, but I didn't have time to deal with him. He also seemed just fine, he probably didn't need medical attention and even if he did, I had done my part. I owed that boy absolutely _nothing_. If anything, he owed me, I decided as I ran all the way to my school.

* * *

As I sprinted down the hallways towards my class, I looked at one of the many clocks the school had dutifully placed on the walls. One minute, I noted, and sped up the last part of the way. I ripped the door open to the classroom, knowing full well that I was sweating like a pig at the moment.

"You made it!" Phoebe exclaimed in relief. I smiled at my much shorter best friend and plumbed down next to her. She looked at me curiously through her turquoise glasses. "Why were you running late, Helga?"

"Oh, you wouldn't believe the morning I've had, Phoebs…" I replied. "First, I ran into Mrs. Vitello and helped her carry a bucket of flowers and then she gave me a pink rose as thanks."

"Oh, that was sweet of her."

"Yeah, yeah." I said dismissively. "Then I see these three guys beating up some poor kid - - "

"Oh, dear."

"And when I kicked their asses and helped that guy, he told me to mind my own business! What is up with that that? I mean, I'm all for independency and dealing with your own shit, but what the actual fuck?"

"Language, Helga." Phoebe reminded me and I rolled my eyes. You'd think that after being my best friend for 13 years she would have given up on trying to straighten me out. But she never gave up on me and I kinda liked that.

"I'm just pissed." I excused myself and saw our teacher walk in. With a sigh I leaned to my right, intending to grab my history book even though I wouldn't be reading in it; I hated history. My hand was met with nothing though and I looked down where my backpack usually was. I looked around my chair and over the table, but it was nowhere in sight. "Uh, Phoebe?"

"Yes?"

"Did you see where I put my backpack?"

Phoebe blinked in thought. "Now that you mention it… I don't think you had it with you." She answered and my eyes widened. "Did you forget it at home?"

"No…" I answered and let my head fall onto the table. "I forgot it at the alley…"

* * *

"You're a freaking basket case." I told myself during recess. I stayed inside, my mood much too sour to go outside with Phoebe even after she had tried cheering me up. I had forgotten my backpack after helping that ungrateful bastard and if he had any brain cells inside that wide head of his, he would look through it. I was tapping my foot on the floor, trying to figure out what to do if he actually showed up when I heard Phoebe call for me.

"Helga!" she called once more and stopped next to me on the bench. "There's… There's some guy asking for you outside."

"A guy?" I asked in surprise. I wasn't on many guys' list of girls they wanted to talk to so I was rather suspicious.

"Yeah… he has your backpack." Phoebe said, clearly expecting me to smile at the fact that someone had been kind enough to bring me my backpack. A look of horror took over my face though. "Wait. Do you think it's the same guy you saved from those brutes?"

"Is his head shaped like a football?"

"It… was rather wide, yes."

"That's him." I confirmed with a sigh.

"Oh, dear." Phoebe said and turned her head to look where she came from. I walked past her and heard her follow me. "Are you certain you wish to meet him?"

"Hell no, but I want my stuff back." I replied as I jogged down the stairs, deliberately saving my strength. I had a feeling he hadn't come here just to give me my backpack.

Once I was outside, I noticed a herd of people just standing and looking at something. _Great_ , I thought and squeezed through them. Once I was through, I recognized the guy I had saved this very morning. Some girls from my class were standing around him, talking to him excitedly, but he had a bored expression on his face. He clearly didn't care that Lila's favorite movie was " _The enchanted bunnies of happy forest_."

"Oh, there she is." Rhonda said when she noticed me.

The boy turned his head, saw me and smirked. "My hero!" he bellowed sarcastically and walked past the girls and towards a scowling me. He lifted my backpack off his shoulder and held it out for me. "You forgot this, Helga Geraldine Pataki."

My eyes went wide at the mentioning of my middle name and I could hear confused mutters behind me. No one had known of my middle name until that moment. _Now it's personal_ , I thought and reached out for my backpack, but he took a step back, still wearing that obnoxious smirk on his face.

"I'll give this back to you once you've apologized to me."

" _Apologized_?!" I repeated in disbelief. "I saved your sorry ass this morning, got no appreciation and now you ask me to apologize?!"

"You hit me."

"After _saving_ you so give me my backpack, you jerk!" I ordered him and reached out for my backpack again. He threw his arm back, but stood still so I ended up with my chest pressed against his. I growled in his face before trying to step around him, but he just twirled around and some people laughed at what I assumed must have looked like the two of us dancing.

My patience reached its end and rather than following the backpack, I curled my fingers and scratched the guy's cheek as hard as I could. He hissed and stepped back and I stared at the few droplets of blood that fell down the place I had scratched. I looked at my fingernails and noticed that they were rather long. I had just told myself to remember to cut them once I got home when I heard a thud. I looked up and saw that the guy had thrown my backpack away.

"You're on, bitch." He told me angrily and lunged for me.

I stepped around him and kicked his back, successfully kicking him to the ground. He used his palms to get himself off the asphalt, looked at me and then swung his leg out at my feet. My reaction was too slow and I fell to the ground with a scream. I opened my eyes and saw him reach out for me, but I managed to roll out of his range. Just as I was about to stand up though, he grabbed me by my ankle and my palms barely managed to save my face from the fall.

I looked at him over my shoulder and with a superior grin, he pulled me back to him until he was hovering over my back. He grabbed at my hips and I used that to my advantage. I swung my leg out to the side and used its strength to turn us around until I was lying on top of him. He wrapped his legs around my waist to keep me still, but he failed to grab my arms before I was already moving. I whipped my elbow into his face and managed to turn around while he was distracted.

Once I was hovering above him, he tightened his legs around my hips and I groaned at being pulled closer to him. He smirked at me even as I lifted my fist to punch him in the face. He let me do that once, but the second time I moved to hit him, he grabbed my wrists and held me away from him even while I struggled against his grip.

"Had enough?" he asked cockily as he blew some of his hair out of his face.

I copied his action mockingly. "I could do this all day." I answered and twisted my wrists around until he was forced to let go. I crashed onto his chest, which took both our breaths away for a moment and his legs lost their strength. I put my hands on the ground, lifted my legs up and straddled him. When he tried to grab me, I grabbed his wrists and slammed them down on the ground.

I smiled arrogantly as he gawked at me. "Taking a little break?" I asked as I leaned down. He roared as he wrestled his wrists out of my grip and lunged for me again.

"Break this up right now!" a voice boomed across the schoolyard and I looked up to see two teachers come running towards us.

"Fuck." I managed to hiss before I felt the back of my head hit the asphalt. When I opened my eyes, the guy had me pinned down and was lifting his fist to punch me. Before he could, a teacher grabbed his arm and lifted him off me. The other teacher grabbed me and held me securely in case I was planning to continue the fight. I wiggled my shoulders out of his grasp. "I'll behave." I said and tilted my head at the struggling boy. "It's _that_ dog you need to keep on a leash!"

The guy snarled deeply at my comment and managed to take a step towards me. He was right in my face and I spit at him in defiance. The teacher behind me grabbed me again after that he told the other teacher to get the boy out of here.

"I-It wasn't Helga's fault!" Sheena, a girl from my class, said suddenly. I looked at her in surprise and so did the teachers. "This guy came to get a fight, Helga only tried to protect herself."

I quirked an eyebrow as the other students seemed to agree with Sheena's statement. I wasn't exactly popular, not even with the group of people I had known since we were in diapers. I have always resorted to violence if things didn't go my way and more than person in my class had felt my fists if I thought they deserved it. I had no idea why they were protecting me now, but I decided to thank them for it later. Maybe I could give in and have that damn party at my house some of my classmates had been pleading for.

The teachers seemed to buy the witness' explanation to what had happened and the teacher let go of me. I smirked gleefully at the boy who was carried away by the two teachers. I wasn't sure what was going to happen to him since he didn't go to our school, but I didn't really care. I grabbed my backpack, ran my fingers through my messy hair and walked towards my classmates.

"Thanks." I told Sheena in particular.

"You're welcome, Helga." She said. "It was the truth after all."

I decided not to tell them the details of how I even met that guy. "I guess since all of you helped me back there…" I started unsurely and then sighed. "I guess that party isn't a _complete_ no-go."

My classmates hollered happily and circled around me to give me a hug. I hated this mushy stuff, but I let them do it anyhow. They had been pleading with me for weeks since Rhonda had announced that she couldn't host our annual class party because there was going to be some renovations on her house. My house was the biggest after hers so my classmates had begged me to host it. I had declined because I wasn't much of a hostess and I wasn't too fond of parties to begin with, but I figured I could do this for them after they had my back.

"Ok, enough with the mushiness!" I declared loudly and they all stepped away from me. They kept grinning happily though and I couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

I rolled my shoulders as I walked down the streets of Hillwood once more that day, though this time it was in the other direction. Even though I wasn't bleeding and nothing was broken or sprained, I could still feel the effects from my fight with the feisty boy. I could even hear my shoulder blades crack as I rolled them. I couldn't believe he cared that much about a stinking apology, but maybe he was just weird. Or had nothing better to care about.

I was about walk past an alley, the same alley I had been fighting in this morning, when I felt something grab my wrist. I barely had time to whip my head down to look what it was when I was pulled into the alley. I opened my mouth to scream, but a hand cover it and muffled my voice. An arm wrapped around my waist, but I lashed my elbow backwards and connected it with the stomach of my attacker.

"You're not even tired after earlier, are you?" a familiar voice asked me in the shell of my ear.

My eyes widened and I stepped away from him when he let go of me. " _You_!" I shouted in disbelief when I recognized the blonde hair on the football-shaped head. I rolled my eyes. "Are you fucking kidding me, you _still_ expect an apology?"

"Nah," he replied. "I don't care about that anymore."

"Then what do I have to do to get rid of you?" I asked as I leaned down to grab my backpack which I had accidentally dropped when he had pulled me in the alley.

He leaned down as well and I looked at him. "I want a rematch."

I blinked a couple of times before I arched my back simultaneously with him. "What?" I said in disbelief. "Are… Are you kidding me? You came her to _fight_ with me?"

"Yes."

I stared at him for a moment before walking out of the alley. I didn't say a word until I noticed that he was following me. "I'm not gonna fight you."

"Why not?"

"A better question is why would I?" I told him.

He was quiet for a while until I felt something against my ass. I jolted and turned around to glare at him. I expected him to ask if sexual harassment was enough to make me fight him, but he showed me a pink cell phone in his hand. I place my hand against the back pocket of my baggy pants and realized that he had stolen my phone.

I threw my backpack to the ground with a snarl and reached out for my phone. He did the same thing he had done with the backpack and forced me to walk around him like a dog chasing its tail. I stopped my legs and used my arm to force his arm down instead. I put all of my weight into it and managed to grab my phone out of his palm. I looked at him in annoyance when I noticed the smirk on his face. He clearly thought we weren't finished, but I just took a step back from him. I grabbed my backpack and saw that people were looking at us curiously.

"Scram!" I shouted at the onlookers and they all dispersed in different directions. I groaned as I placed my backpack over my shoulder and continued walking.

"Why don't you wanna fight me?" the stubborn boy asked me. I looked at him quizzically. "Don't tell me you only use your skills for the sake of the good?" he asked sarcastically.

I snorted at the thought of myself in a pink jumpsuit as I jumped buildings to search for criminals. "I use it to defend myself or if I think someone deserves to be smacked around."

"And I don't?" he asked curiously. "After attacking you, trying to steal your phone and calling you a bitch?"

" _Bitch_ is not the worst thing I've been called." I told him matter-of-factly.

"What _is_ the worst thing you've been called?" he asked almost with genuine curiosity.

I smirked. "Olga." I replied and looked at him. He arched a blonde eyebrow in confusion and I chuckled. "You'd have to know me to understand."

He continued following me in silence for a bit. "Then let me get to know you." He requested out of the blue.

My eyes widened a bit and I almost stopped walking in surprise. That was the first time anyone had said they wanted to get to know me. I wasn't a very friendly or likable person, no matter what Phoebe said about how I had a heart of gold once you got to know me.

I looked at him. "Yeah, ha-ha." I replied with a snort and he just chuckled.

I had expected the boy to stop following me after that, but he just continued walking next to me. He didn't say anything though and I wondered if he was planning to follow me all the way home. I considered asking him about it, but figured it wouldn't make a difference. He had obviously gone through my backpack since he knew both my name and where I went to school so if he wanted to know where I lived, he probably already did.

Once I was in front of my house, I walked through the gate of the new fence Bob had made me build. I had no idea how he suddenly got the idea that we needed a fence, but he had paid me so I didn't question it. I closed the gate before the boy tried to follow me. He just smiled at me though, having obviously no intention of escorting me all the way up to my door. I shook my head at the surrealism of the entire situation and walked towards the front door when a question hit me so hard that I just had to ask it.

"Hey, Football Head!" I called. He flinched at the nickname and shot me a slanted look, silently asking me what I wanted. "What's your name?"

He eyed me curiously before he smirked. "Arnold." he answered.

I hummed. "Arnoldo." I declared and smirked at how annoyed he looked. He corrected me, but I just laughed. "Arnoldo-moldo." I said for effect and unlocked my door. I waved at him mockingly and closed the door behind me.

Something about the way this Arnold guy was looking at me told me that he was interested in me. I had no idea where that interest originated from and exactly how interested he was. But his eyes and his smirk made it obvious he thought I was interesting. I was thinking something similar about him. Thought no quite.

"Weirdest fucking guy I've ever met." I declared to myself and let my backpack fall to the floor.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: So that was the first chapter of "Bad behavior". There's definitely more to come whether you guys like it or not! Ha-ha xD Oh, and in case someone worries about this:** _ **No**_ **, it's not going be all violence all the time xD**

 **And if anyone wants to try to draw a cover of this, please do! I'd love to see it and maybe even use it! :D**


	2. Tough girl

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Bad behavior"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **On Helga's way to school, she stumbled across some boys who were beating up a blonde guy she had never met before. With her strength, she got the boys away and helped the boy who was less than grateful to her. Angry that he wouldn't even thank her, she slapped his head before running off.**_

 _ **Helga forgot her backpack though and the guy came to her school to give it back, but also to claim an apology. They ended up fighting, which the teachers had to break up. Helga got her backpack, but the guy didn't get his apology.**_

 _ **The blonde boy waited for Helga at an alley and insisted he wanted a rematch. As he walked her home, he never truly got one. Before he left, he told her that his name was Arnold.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I already don't know what to say in the first author's note! That didn't take long… xD**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 2: "Tough girl"

I yawned as I attempted to read the chapter that was due tomorrow's English lesson. I told myself that I should have done so earlier. Or at least before midnight. I looked at my cell to verify it was way past any good teenager's bedtime, not that I usually belonged in that category. I stretched and decided I'd skip breakfast the next morning and just read the rest then. I closed the book and shoved it across my desk.

I was about to walk to my bed and fall asleep the very second I did, but then remembered the rose Mrs. Vitello had given me. _It would be nice to smell something sweet before I fall asleep_ , I decided and rummaged throw my backpack. It was dirty from having been thrown around so much today, but I didn't really care. I grabbed my Spanish book and skipped through the pages to find the rose. When it didn't appear, I frowned.

 _Didn't I put it in my Spanish book?_ I wondered and grabbed the next book, but it wasn't there either. I wasn't panicking, but I skimmed through every single book I had before realizing the flower was gone. _Where the hell did it go?_

Then I remembered the Football Head. Arnold. He'd had my backpack with him for at least an hour before he came to my school. Could he have taken it? I dumped the idea immediately; what would he want with a pressed rose after all? I yawned again and decided to worry about the flower tomorrow. If I'd even remember it, that was. I headed to my bed and, true to my intentions, fell asleep a few seconds later.

* * *

"How can a rose just disappear like that?" Nadine wondered aloud as she, I, Phoebe, Rhonda, Sheena, Patty and Lila walked out of the classroom together, the bell signaling the end of the day ringing loudly in the background.

"Hell if I know." I responded. I had just told the girls about the rose and they had all wondered the same thing; had the mysterious guy from the day before stolen it? I had pointed out that he couldn't use it for anything and they had dumped the idea too. "I just hope I never see that freak again. He followed me home yesterday."

"You're kidding!" Rhonda exclaimed.

"You ok?" Patty asked with her deep voice. She didn't seem as worried as the other girls, but that was because she was a strong one. Just like I was. Perhaps that was why we bonded back in fourth grade even though we didn't have much else in common.

"Yeah, he just… followed me home. We had an actual conversation, kinda." I explained. "He _did_ try to attack me first though. Apparently, he wants a rematch."

Patty gave a small _heh_. "Maybe you hurt his manly pride."

I snorted. "Men and their pride."

"Said the proudest girl I've ever met." Rhonda teased.

"Said the proudest girl _I've_ ever met." I retorted and messed up her hair on purpose. She cried out unhappily, pouted at me and started straightening it. While she told Nadine to take her hairbrush out of her bag, I chuckled maliciously. My laugh died once we were outside though. "Oh, for crying out loud!"

My exclamation was due to the fact that near the gates stood Arnold with his back leaned casually against the metal bars. He had a somber look on his face, his green eyes hidden from the world as he listened to whatever music was pouring out of his headphones.

"What's _he_ doing here?" Nadine asked and stopped brushing Rhonda's hair.

"You think he's here to get that rematch?" Patty asked and crossed her arms.

I copied her action. "Why else would he be standing there, all smugly?"

"I'm ever so certain I haven't seen him around here before." Lila said as her index-finger rested on her chin thoughtfully. "He is not a student here, is he?"

"I haven't seen him before yesterday either." Sheena concurred.

"So, what's the plan?" Patty asked me in a bit of a low voice. What she was actually asking me was whether I wanted her help in case he was going for a fight.

I bit on my lip for a moment before I started walking. "Ignore him." I told the girls who all gasped in either surprise or fear.

"We can't just walk past him!" Rhonda insisted, her messy hair forgotten.

"Why not?"

"Because he's… _creepy_ -looking."

I looked back at Arnold. I could have uses a lot of words to describe how he looked, but creepy hadn't been one of them. "He's after _me_ anyway so don't worry, princess." I insisted and let my hand fly over her hair to put one lock of the short, black strands back in its place.

The girls followed my order dutifully and didn't even look at Arnold when we approached him. I saw him looking up and smirking at me. Once I was past him, I could only imagine the surprise on his face. I desperately wanted to look at him over my shoulder, just to see what kind of face he was making, but I resisted the temptation.

I almost felt ready to start a conversation with the girls when I heard something behind me. I clenched my eyes suspiciously and leaned closer to Patty. "Is he behind us?" I whispered. Patty looked back through her peripheral vision and nodded. I groaned. Was he never going to give up?

"What do you want us to do?" Sheena asked in a whisper.

"Ignore him." I told them in a assured voice, but in reality I wanted to turn around, take him by surprise and punch his face in.

"Why don't you just fight him?" Rhonda asked and I looked at her incredulously. "He'll leave you alone after that, won't he?"

"Not if I win. Then he'll just want _another_ rematch."

"Then lose on purpose!"

"Are you insane?!" I asked in a much louder voice than I intended. I kept my eyes away from Arnold though and made my voice smaller. "I refuse to lose to guy like that."

"Well, he's still following us. What if he plans to do that all the way to the mall?"

"I'm sure he has better things to do than - - Hey!" I exclaimed when something hard hit the back of my head. I turned around and gawked at Arnold who was smirking as he looked at a rock in his hand.

"Oh, so you _did_ see me." He stated and threw the rock at the ground. "I was afraid I'd have to throw another one at you."

I clenched my fist and felt more than ready to accept his challenge at this point. I was as stubborn as I was aggressive though and so I turned around with a huff and continued walking. The girls quickly caught up with me and so did Arnold. I told myself to ignore him even when I could hear that he was only a few feet behind us. It wasn't until I could feel his breath sending a shiver down my neck that I couldn't contain myself.

Without turning around, I lifted my fist and connected it with Arnold's face. I heard him groan in pain, but before I could let my arm fall back down, I felt him grab my wrist. I shrieked as he swung me around, slammed me up against the wall and grabbed my other wrist. I looked up at him, the smug smile still on his face. I wanted to struggle against his grip, but rather than trying to connect my arms and start hitting me, he leaned so close to me that I couldn't see my friends past his head.

"So… what changed your mind?" he asked curiously.

"You were breathing down my neck." I told him.

He quirked an eyebrow at my answer. "Breathing?" he repeated.

"Oh, yes." Phoebe interfered and Arnold looked at her. "Helga suffers from Misophonia." When Arnold continued to stare at her, she continued. "Misophonia is a rarely diagnosed neuropsychiatric disorder in which negative emotions, such as anger, flight, hatred or disgust, are triggered by specific sounds. In Helga's case, she can get very agitated if someone breathes heavily near her. A boy in our class who has asthma has been punched by Helga on more than one occasion because he was standing right behind her."

"Phoebs, shut it." I told her, not particularly interested in this Arnold guy knowing about my medical record. Though it wasn't truly part of my medical record. I'd never had it checked. Perhaps I didn't even truly suffer from it and was just weird, I didn't really care. I just knew that the sound bugged the living hell out of me.

"Shutting." She declared kindly.

"So," Arnold said mischievously. " _breathing_ is what gets the tough girl to get bend outta shape, huh?"

I gulped at the way he was looking at me and my eyes widened when he leaned closer to me. "D-Don't you dare…" I warned angrily, but there was something else in my voice. Something akin to nervousness, but I wasn't quite sure what I was feeling as he leaned near my ear and breathed very slowly. It was so soft that it tickled and my arms shivered at the feeling it sent down my spine. My usual anger was definitely there, but it was veiled by something else that annoyed me just as much.

With a shaky breath, I looked up at him defiantly and lifted my knee fast until I felt it connect to his crotch. He choked and stumbled backwards, letting go of me as I had wanted. When he looked at me with anger, I realized I hadn't used all of my strength when I had kneed him. I didn't have the time to wonder why before he lunged for me again.

"Do you want us to get someone?" Phoebe asked as I ran around the group of girls with Arnold hot on my tail.

"No! Just…" I answered and ran around them one more time. "Just go to the mall!"

"Is this kids' theater?!" Nadine asked in disbelief and couldn't help but laugh when Arnold kept following me in a circle around the girls. I couldn't help but laugh too, Arnold and I must have looked ridiculous.

Suddenly, I realized that I was about to hit Arnold's back. He had stopped running and I stopped as well, wondering if he was going to turn around to grab me. Instead, I saw his shoulders shaking. I cocked my head curiously to the side and laughed in realization.

"You're laughing!" I exclaimed in shock and held my stomach.

"A-Am not!" Arnold insisted and tried to kill his laugher, but he couldn't. He kept laughing and I couldn't help but continue myself. There was something oddly cute about a guy who looked like a gang member laughing so heartily.

"This is so weird. We're heading to the mall, Helga. Catch up whenever." Rhonda stated, unamused. I waved at the girls, still laughing too much to say properly goodbye. Once they were out of sight, I finally caught my breath and so did Arnold.

"You're not getting your fight." I informed him and crossed my arms.

He took one last breath that almost sounded like a sigh. "I'll figure out a way to get it." he claimed confidently. "I just need to get to know you, figure out your buttons."

I leaned up against the wall as he approached me. "All you know about me so far are my _buttons_." I told him.

"Not true." He said and reached into the inner pocket of his leather jacket. "I know you like to press flowers."

My eyes widened at the sight of the pressed rose in his fingers. "So you _did_ take it!" I said and snapped it from him.

"Why would I take your precious rose? It fell out of your book, I picked it up and forgot to put it back before your girlfriends attacked me with their babbling."

"Yeah, I noticed Lila recommending _The enchanted bunnies of happy forest_ to you. Did you watch it? Was it the cutest thing you've ever seen?" I asked with big, dreamy eyes I hoped he could see were fake.

"Yes, it was positively adorable." He replied back in a monotone voice. It wasn't until he shook his head that I was sure he was being sarcastic.

I laughed silently, my shoulders shaking as I did, and smiled at him. With a breath, I started walking down the street and didn't fail to notice that he was following me. "Where are you going?"

"To the mall."

"You're _not_ coming to the mall with us."

"Yes, I am. I won't leave you alone until you let me have my rematch."

"I must admit, even your voice at this point makes me want to punch you."

"So why don't you?"

"Because I don't pick random fights… anymore."

"Anymore?"

"Look," I said, refusing to start discussing my past with him. "why don't you go find those three guys again? I'm sure they'd love to kick your ass."

"I don't want my ass kicked, I want to have a match with an equal."

That got my attention. "You're calling me your equal?" I asked and he shrugged as if it was obvious. "That's probably the first time I've ever heard a guy call a girl his equal."

"You're obviously not just any girl." He stated. "You're different."

"I've been told." I said as I rolled my eyes.

"That's what I like." He said too casually for my liking.

I looked at him with an eyebrow arched. "So tell me, Arnold Football Head, do you always try to beat up the girls you like? Are you some kind of overgrown preschooler?"

He put his hands up in defense. "Hey, I never claimed to be a ladies' man."

"I sure as hell wouldn't be talking to you if you were."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't care for players. Hurting people isn't a sport." I said and he obviously noticed the gravity in my voice.

"Have you been hurt?" he asked and the way he asked made me uncomfortable.

I picked up my pace when I noticed that we were right in front of the mall. "Not the way you think, bucko." I retorted and walked into the revolving door. I felt Arnold put his hand on my shoulder and turn me around, still holding his hand on my shoulder. I walked backwards, pressed up against the class door that continued to rotate. "What?" I asked, not liking the severe look on his face one bit. He leaned his face closer to mine and I felt my heart stop.

"Helga!" I heard an excited female voice call and I looked to my left, seeing my friends wave at me from inside the mall. Arnold had been distracting by them as well so I took the opportunity to slip out of his grasp and jog towards them. I held a hand to my heart, willing it to slow down before I fainted. I had no idea what Arnold had been planning or if he even knew himself, but I was happy to be saved by the girls before I found out.

"You made it," Patty said with a smile that faded when she noticed Arnold behind me. "but you failed to lose the carryon."

I looked over my shoulder at Arnold. "Go home!" I told him, genuinely annoyed with him again. I had almost let my guard down, but it was back up again after his little stunt in the revolving doors. He simply crossed his arms though, but this time he wasn't wearing his smirk. I wasn't sure if he was pissed because whatever he had planned in the revolving doors hadn't worked or if it was because he wasn't sure what he had been planning in the first place. I rolled my eyes. "I give up." I declared and looked at the girls. "So, why did you want to bring me here anyway?"

Rhonda looked excitedly at the other girls. Some of them were smiling and some of them looked uncomfortable. "Well, since we're going to have our class party at _your_ house this Saturday, we thought - - "

" _You_ thought." I corrected as I noticed the other girls shaking their heads in panic.

"Well, as the former hostess I thought it was my duty to make sure that you looked the part." Rhonda said mischievously.

I backed away when I realized what she was referring to. "What - - " I started before I bumped into Arnold. He automatically put his hands on my arms to stop me from falling, but I wiggled away instantly. "What are you thinking? I'm not going _clothes_ shopping! Did you all know about this?"

The girls coughed awkwardly and refused to meet my eyes. "I thought it might be fun with _you_ , Helga." Patty explained since I was looking at her. I knew she wasn't into clothes shopping or girl time so I was mostly surprised with her.

Then I looked at Phoebe because, well, she was my best friend. If anyone knew how much I hated clothes shopping, it was her. "I thought it could be fun too, Helga… a-and I made Rhonda swear that you could pick the stores. We are not going into any pink or fancy shops, I promise."

"I thought pink was your favorite color?" Arnold asked behind me and I looked at him quizzically. He shrugged. "Just a hunch." He explained as he looked at my top with pink graffiti on it.

"She means _girly_ shops, not just the pink color." I tried to explain to him, but I didn't blame him for not understanding. It was weird after all; I was a blonde girl whose favorite color was pink, but I hate most girly and cute things.

"I guess I can add _bipolar_ to the list of things that describes Helga Geraldine Pataki." Arnold said and pretended to write in a notebook. I rolled my eyes while the girls laughed.

"Please, Helga?" Rhonda begged and cocked her head towards Arnold. "This one might give up on you if we go shopping. You know how guys hate shopping."

 _How bigoted_ , I thought. _Especially since I'm a girl that hates shopping_. I sighed and gave a really tense smile. The girls thanked me for giving in and pulled me with them. I could hear Arnold walk behind us though not right behind us so if anyone asked, we could easily claim that we didn't know him.

* * *

"I'm in a nightmare and I can't wake up." I stated with half-lidded eyes. I was sitting on a couch inside a shop with my chin resting in my palm while my friends were looking around for a dress I wouldn't be disgusted with. Arnold was sitting next to me in the exact same position. I looked at him. "Why haven't you gone home yet?"

"It's kinda like when you start watching a show on TV you actually think is boring… you still wanna know how it ends."

"You actually care whether I find a dress?"

"I'm curious to see _what_ dress you'll find."

"The suspense is rising." I joked tiredly and he gave a lazy smile.

"How about this one?" Rhonda asked and showed me a dress.

"For the last time, Rhonda Lloyd, _no frills_." I told her and she huffed before going back to the aisle of clothing.

"Is she deaf or something?" Arnold asked, proving to me that he, unlike my friends, had listened to my list of things I refused to wear.

"Close." I told him and smiled. "She thinks she knows better."

Arnold made a long, hoarse snicker at my comment and looked around the store for a moment. His eyes stopped wandering and they observed something for a moment before he looked back at me. I was about to ask why he was eyeing me like that, it made me feel extremely uncomfortable, when he stood up without warning and walked across the store. I stared at him in surprise, but then Nadine's voice pulled me back to reality.

"What about this one, Helga? It's pink." She said as if trying to hypnotize me with the word.

" _And_ beige." I added with a sarcastic grin. She sighed, she had obviously hoped I wouldn't notice, and turned back to the aisle.

"Helga, you're positively hopeless!" Rhonda declared and walked back to me with her hands on her hips. "We have been through almost every store in this mall and we _still_ haven't found anything you like!"

"Well, I guess there's nothing more to do than give up then, huh?" I suggested, sincerely hoping Rhonda's stilettoes were starting to hurt so much that she would at least consider going home.

"Oh, no. No way." She answered and I groaned. "I am not leaving until I find a proper dress for you to wear at the party!"

"What about this one?" a male voice asked behind the girls. Phoebe and Lila moved aside and I saw Arnold stand in front of me with a neutral look on his face. I blinked at the dress he was showing me. It was a corset dress in pink tartan with a tutu styled skirt at the lower half of the pink fabric. It had black lace in two tiers and a fitted upper half. The dress featured halter neck straps, a front zipper and a corset style lace up panel with silver metal D-rings and a black ribbon lacing up into a bow in the middle. The back of the dress showed off the shoulder and the neck.

"There's no way Helga would wear that." Rhonda insisted and looked at me. She noticed the way I was staring at the dress. "Would she?"

"Uh…" I started and cleared my throat. "It's… the one I hate the least so far…"

Rhonda's eyes widened. She grabbed the dress from Arnold and shoved it into my embrace. "Try it on." She ordered. As I stood up, I couldn't help but wonder why Rhonda would even let me try it on. It was a rather punkish dress and that was not what Rhonda usually considered _appropriate_ attire. Perhaps she was so desperate at the moment that she was willing to even let me wear something that was more suited for a riot girl than a classy lady.

I heard Phoebe ask Arnold behind me how he knew I would like this dress. He told her he just had a hunch and I wondered where that hunch came from as I walked into the changing room. He couldn't know that much about me except for what he must have found in my backpack. I tried thinking about the things I had in it, things that weren't school-related.

It wasn't until I remembered that I had my wallet in my backpack as well, that I realized where he must have gotten his hunch from. In my wallet, I had a picture of myself at a Halestorm concert with some of my more alternative friends that didn't go at the same school as me. I wasn't friends with them anymore, we simply grew apart, and the picture was at least three years old. But I had been wearing a black and pink Goth dress.

I smiled at myself in the mirror. It felt good to be wearing something like this again. That was the thing I missed the most about my old friends; the conform clothes we chose together, which was kind of sad. I stepped out of the changing room and the girls were all waiting for me right outside.

"Whoa, that is so you!" Nadine exclaimed excitedly.

"Yeah?" I asked and looked down at myself.

"You look like your 13-year-old self." Phoebe stated with a snicker.

I stuck my tongue out at the Asian girl and frowned as Rhonda circled me, observing me from head to toe. "If I believed in reincarnation, I'd say you were a vulture in another life." I told the black-haired girl, but she either ignored me or didn't hear me.

"It's not what I had imagined you wearing…" Rhonda said as she stopped in front of me and smiled. "But it's a very good compromise."

"You actually approve of this dress?"

"Honey, at the moment I will approve of anything that is considered a dress and isn't made of leather."

"You do realize that the corset is - - "

"I don't wanna hear it!" Rhonda exclaimed and I chuckled at her reaction. She stepped to the side and grabbed Arnold by his shoulder, pushing him a little towards me. "What do you think, Arnold? You chose it after all."

Suddenly, as Arnold looked at me, I got nervous. I could feel my heart leap into my throat as I waited for his judgment. I could have cared less what the girls had thought, even Phoebe, but somehow Arnold's opinion mattered. I hated that.

Arnold smirked. "It's the one I hate the least." He answered and I blinked at his words.

"What kinda answer is that?" Rhonda asked in disbelief and complained to the other girls while I just kept looking at Arnold. He kept showing me that smile and when his words had repeated enough in my head, I started smiling back.

* * *

"You want to get something to eat, Helga?" Patty asked as we walked through the mall.

"I'm pooped." I replied. "I'll grab a sandwich somewhere and eat it on my way home. See you tomorrow, girls."

The girls all said their goodbyes to me and waved as they headed inside the café. Arnold stayed next to me though. "Why didn't you join your friends for dinner?"

I sighed. "Because I can only handle so much girl time in a row. I'm not tired because of the shopping, I'm tired because I've been around so many people for so long."

"So you're an introvert?"

"I wouldn't say that… but I'm not an extrovert either." I replied as I looked at the bag I was holding with the dress inside. I almost looked forward to Saturday now.

"If you're that antisocial how come you're hosting a party?"

"I told you, I'm not antisocial. I just like being alone too." I responded. "And I'm hosting it because Rhonda can't this year."

"Why don't you just cancel it?"

"We can't do that!" I said in something akin to terror. "It's our annual class party… we've done this since preschool. They'd have my head on a spike if I cancelled now. It's a tradition… the party, that is."

I could see Arnold smirk at me. "So, you like traditions?"

"Not all traditions." I replied and frowned. "I hate Thanksgiving."

"That's a weird holiday to hate."

"You can think of a better one?"

Arnold hummed thoughtfully for a moment before he snapped. "4th of July."

I blinked. "Should I grab my torch and pitchfork?" I asked and he chuckled at my question. "Seriously, what kind of American hates 4th of July?"

"I never said I hated it, I just _prefer_ Thanksgiving in comparison to you. It's not like hating Thanksgiving is very patriotic either." He pointed out.

I shrugged in surrender, I knew he had a point after all. I turned my head and looked at a sandwich shop next to us. "Are you planning to follow me all the way home in some desperate attempt at making me pissed an fight you again?"

"You're very observant." Arnold replied and I sighed. "Why do you ask?"

I pointed at the sandwich shop. "I'm getting something to eat, I suggest you do the same. You haven't eaten since lunch like me." I said and walked towards it.

"I didn't bring any money." The blonde boy told me even though he followed me dutifully.

"And you expect me to pay for you?" I asked with a slanted expression, but he shook his head. Something in his expression told me he was honest; he really hadn't been secretly asking for a meal. "Will you have dinner at home then?"

"I haven't been home in a while." He answered casually and started looking around the shop.

 _What does that mean?_ I wondered and observed him. "Where are you then, if not home?"

"Other places." He replied dismissively. "You should get that one."

I looked at where he pointed and scrunched my nose. "Nu-uh." I replied. I wanted to ask him about his home life, but his dismissive attitude told me not to. I hated when others interfered in my privacy so I wasn't going to be a hypocrite and do the same. "I hate potatoes."

Arnold hummed at the information and kept looking through the sandwiches. "What else don't you like? Or is it easier to ask what you _do_ like?" he asked with a quirky smile.

I stuck my tongue out at ham. "I hate corn, pigs' feet, lima beans and smoked mackerel."

"Well, I don't think we're in any danger of finding any of those things in these sandwiches."

I crossed my arms curiously. "Are you still trying to get to know me to find my buttons?" I asked. Arnold wiggled his eyebrows playfully and despite how serious I wanted to seem, I couldn't help but snicker at the sight. "I'm also allergic to strawberries." I told him, without really knowing why.

"That sucks." Arnold declared.

"Why, you saw a sandwich with strawberries?"

"No, because strawberries taste good."

"Not to someone who gets hives from them."

"Good point." He muttered and kept looking around.

I watched him for a while before I sighed in surrender. "Would you like a sandwich?" I asked.

He looked at me in surprise. "I don't want to mooch on you."

"Look at it as a thank you for helping me stop the shopping spree before we went through the rest of the mall." I told him and waved with my shopping bag for effect. He didn't seem too keen on the idea at first, but then smiled as if surrendering.

* * *

Once we had gotten our sandwiches, we continued our way home to my house in silence. I sneaked a look at Arnold from time to time, noticing how hungrily he was eating. He either had bad manners or was really hungry. I wasn't sure which one. It wasn't like I cared much for table manners, I didn't even always remember to use a tissue rather than my hand, but the way he was eating almost looked carnivorous.

Once we reached my fence, I threw the paper from my sandwich in the trash can. Arnold had already thrown his away and I had actually never been the last to finish eating anything ever, I noticed. I looked at him over my shoulder and stuck my tongue out at him again.

"You didn't get your fight in the end, huh?" I asked. "I'd feel bad for you if it wasn't your own fault."

Arnold shrugged. "I have a few ideas that might give me what I want." He insisted and turned his back to me. I shook my head in disbelief and opened the face to walk inside. "Helga," I heard his voice say behind me and my body froze while my face warmed. That was the first time he had said my name, _just_ my name without my middle and last one. I turned around, looking at him with wonder in my eyes. "I might crash your party."

My heart that had sped up fell right back to its normal pace. "What…?"

"Just thought I'd warn ya'." Arnold said with a lopsided smirk and turned his back to me again. "See you around, tough girl."

I blinked a couple of times, letting the information sink in. "H-Hold on, Arnold! Football Head! You can't do that! It's a class party!" I shouted at him, but he just kept walking down the street. "Don't you dare come! You hear me?! I'll kill you if you show up!"

When I said those words, I realized that he had played me and I had reacted just the way he had wanted me to. With an annoyed growl, I jogged up to my front door, unlocked it and swung it open. I slammed it shut, breathing heavily to try and get my anger to fall down. I couldn't believe him. Would he really show up? Would he really crash my class party?

I put my hand up to my mouth, analyzing all those feelings I felt at the thought of Arnold inside my house. One of them was fear, fear that he would break something to make me lose my temper and punch him. Another was anger because he was _not_ welcome in my house! And the third one, the one that shocked and bothered me the most… was anticipation.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: I used a real dress as reference to the one Helga bought! FanFiction doesn't allow links so I can't put it here, but if you want to see a picture of it, you can message me on deviantArt or YouTube.**


	3. Pursue you

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Bad behavior"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **When Helga was on her way to the mall after school, she and the girls noticed Arnold waiting for her by the gate. He was still looking for a fight and almost got one when he breathed down her neck and found out that she may suffer from Misophonia.**_

 _ **Arnold followed the girls to the mall after Rhonda had tricked Helga into going clothes shopping. The girls almost gave up on finding a dress for Helga when Arnold found one that was just perfect for her.**_

 _ **When Arnold followed Helga home, she realized that there was definitely something more to the blonde boy than what he was letting on. Despite her curiosity she didn't ask about his private life and she lost all need to when he declared that he'd might crash the class party she would be hosting the following Saturday.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I don't know what to say! Just read! Cx**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 3: "Pursue you"

"That hurts, Rhonda Lloyd!" I shouted at the ravenette behind me as she combed my hair.

"That's your own fault!" she countered. "You never comb your hair!"

"I do too!"

"Yes, once after you have showered and then you just leave it like that until your next shower."

"It makes me hair wavy." I insisted which I knew Rhonda would have respect for.

"And I love your waves," she said. "but not combing your hair makes it impossible to style it!"

"Just don't style it then!"

"You _need_ to make a little effort for this night, Helga."

"The fact that this night is even happening _is_ me making an effort.

"Oh, leave her be already!" Patty interfered. She was sitting on my bed with her feet dangling at the end. "She looks good with her hair down anyway."

"Thank you." I said stubbornly and looked at Rhonda through my mirror. "You hear her?"

"It's not about looking good, it's about looking different." Rhonda countered, combed my hair one last time and gestured for me to turn around. I rotated on the chair and let my head fall forwards so she could comb the underside of my hair as well. "You'll look good with your hair up, I promise. And with that dress you're wearing you _have_ to tie your hair up."

"May I ask why?"

"Because of the straps and the naked back of course! You need to show it off."

"I'm starting to regret this party."

"Oh, pish posh." Rhonda insisted and I heard her put my hairbrush at the table behind me. I felt her start to pull on my hair and I groaned at the stinging feeling. I looked towards Patty who was hissing at the mere sight of what Rhonda was doing to me. "There… Finally, a masterpiece."

I swung my head back up, purposely hitting Rhonda with it. I smirked at her as she coughed my hair out of her mouth and turned around to see myself in the mirror. To my surprise, I didn't hate it. I always knew that my hair was thick, but Rhonda had managed to make it look big and poofy. I now knew what she meant when she said I had to tie it up to compliment the dress.

I pulled at a loose lock of hair next to my left ear. "A lock has escaped." I told her jokingly.

"It's supposed to be like that." She told me and I looked at her skeptically. She rolled her eyes, waved my hand away and start braiding the lock. Once it was braided, she swung it under my ponytail, over it and around until she could put the ends of it inside my ponytail, successfully hiding it underneath all my hair.

"Clever." I said semi-sarcastically as I looked my hair over. Braids usually weren't my style, it was Lila's thing definitely and if there was one thing I'd hate was to be compared to Little Miss Perfect. But this one solitary braid seemed to put the dot over the I. "Am I done yet?"

"With that face? No."

"What the hell?" I bellowed and heard Patty laugh next to me.

"You can't go to a party with a clean face."

"You're gonna dirty me?" I asked quizzically and my eyes widened when I saw her pull out a makeup kit. "Oh, no. No! Not happening, princess. I am _not_ wearing makeup!"

"Hear what I have in mind before you say that." Rhonda countered in annoyance. I crossed my arms childishly, but I listened to her. "I was imagining dark, smokey eyeshadow and plum lipstick."

" _Plum_ …?" I repeated and she showed me the lipstick. "Oh… I do like plums."

"Good." Rhonda said happily, turned me around in the chair and told me to close my eyes. I did so reluctantly and sighed as I felt the brush against my eyes. I had worn makeup before, but it was no habit of mine. It was too much of a bother and it always felt so thick on my face. Rhonda was basically a makeup guru though so perhaps she knew how to make it feel light. I decided to trust her. Not that I was ever given a decision.

* * *

"You do know the boys are staring at you, right?" Nadine asked in a whisper, but she made sure to keep her distance to me not to trigger my Misophonia.

I groaned and looked at Rhonda with hatred in my eyes. "This is why I didn't want you to do this. I _hate_ when boys stare like that." I told her and took a sip from my glass of rum and coke.

"They stare because you look beautiful, Helga." Sheena insisted in her usual sweet voice.

I smirked knowingly at her. "Beautiful." I repeated and cocked my head towards the boys. "You think that's the word _they're_ thinking?"

"Oh… well, uh…" she said sheepishly and shook her head in surrender.

"Thought so." I declared and pulled at my dress. "Suddenly, this feels really short."

"Helga," Patty said with a monotone voice and I looked at her. "you look good. If the boys are making you uncomfortable, just stop looking at them. If any of them tried anything, you could kick their ass anyway so just relax and enjoy the evening."

I looked at Patty for a moment before I smiled. "Ok." I agreed and nudged my elbow at her. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me, I was just getting sick of your whining."

"Whining - - "I repeated in disbelief before I felt someone link their arm with mine.

"Oh, Helga! Let's dance." Lila said in her sugary voice and pulled me with her. I put my glass on a nearby table just in time to grab Patty's arm and pull her along with us. She grabbed Phoebe who grabbed Sheena who grabbed Nadine who grabbed Rhonda and so every girl in class was suddenly out in the middle of my living room and dancing to a song I didn't know, but someone had put on my stereo.

"I forgot to ask, Helga." Nadine said as she moved her arms over her head. "How did you get your dad to let you do this?"

"He doesn't know." I confessed and smirked mischievously. "He's on a business trip and I just told Miriam to go hang out with that Suzie friend of hers. She didn't suspect a thing."

"You bad girl!" Patty laughed as she put her arms over me from behind. I laughed heartily before grabbing her hands, twirling under them and then continue to dance with her. "He's looking."

"Who?" I asked as lowly as I could and moved closer to Patty, pretending to do it for the sake of the dancing.

"Harold." Patty whispered back and gulped nervously.

I smiled at my tall friend. "Then look back, smile, _do_ something." I tried to encourage her, but she seemed heavily defeated already.

"I don't think it's me he's looking at." She told me with a sad smile. I looked in Harold's direction over my shoulder, caught his eyes and then he looked away in embarrassment.

I sighed as I looked back at Patty. "Patty, I - - "

"Don't say it." Patty said and chuckled heartily. "It's just the way it is. I'm not exactly beautiful."

"You're not exactly ugly either." I countered. "You have grown into your looks, Patty. You have _curves_. Boys love that."

"You call it curves, but - - "

"It's curves." I insisted.

Due to the fact that Patty's parents were dwarves, but that she was normal-sized and even a little taller than me, Patty had gotten the nickname _Big Patty_ when we were children. But she wasn't overweight, she was muscular, which unfortunately scared most people off even though she was a good friend. She had a bad temper, just like I did, so I knew what it felt like to have people expecting you to punch them just for saying hello.

"Curves or not curves, it doesn't change the fact that Harold sees me as a friend and nothing else." Patty maintained and tried to smile at me to assure me that she was ok, but I could see through it. I wasn't sure if that was the truth. The way I caught Harold looking at Patty when she wasn't looking at him told me otherwise. I wasn't even sure if it was in fact me he had been staring at before.

Then a metaphorical lightbulb lit above my head. "I have an idea." I told her and jogged towards the stereo. I heard her asking me what I was planning, but I didn't have the time to explain it to her so I just changed the song to one I knew would make Patty realize what I had in mind. When I turned my head to look at Patty her face was struck with horror.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no…" I could see her mouth to herself, but I wasn't going to let her run away from this. It was perfect and she would have known it if she wasn't so shy.

"Who's in the mood for some tango?" I asked and my classmates laughed in disbelief. I walked up to Patty sultrily and she was shaking her head at me, silently pleading with me not to carry out my plan. I grabbed her hand though and pulled her close to me and she followed my steps easily.

"I can't do this." Patty whispered.

"You won't have to do anything, let me lead." I told her, put my leg behind her and tipped her downwards so that she could see Harold from an upside-down point of view. Once I pulled her back up, she was flushing with anger and embarrassment, but she kept following my lead. "Hey, Harold!" I said when I noticed that he was already moving his head along with the music. "Mind cutting in?"

"M-Me? Oh, I, uh - - "

"Oh, come on! We all know that you and Patty did the tango at the April Fool's Party. You're the only one here who can cut in." I insisted and nodded encouragingly at him. When he still didn't step forward, I led Patty back towards him, twirled her under my arm and let go of her. Her palms landed on his chest and they looked at each other with big eyes.

"Come on, big boy!" Sid teased and nudged his hand on his friend's back.

Harold cleared his throat awkwardly before he took Patty's hand in his own determinedly. He led her across the room and our classmates moved out to the walls to give them some room. They were whistling and clapping along to the beat of the music and for the first time, I saw Patty and Harold completely comfortable in each other's arms.

 _Oh, yeah. I'm gonna make sure those two get some privacy tonight_. I thought and sat down on the couch to admire my handiwork. _Sure was on freaking time too_.

I wasn't sure, but I thought I heard something behind me. Reminding myself that the only thing behind me was the window, I ignored my thought and kept smiling at Patty and Harold. They really did make a cute couple. I heard the sound again though and I turned around in annoyance, expecting to see some kids trying to play a prank or a woodpecker mistaking my window for a tree. I saw neither.

I sat up on my knees when I recognized the familiar green eyes. They belonged to the person who had been gently knocking on my window, the person who had threatened me to come here. "Arnold!" I hissed in a low voice, looked over my shoulder to confirm that no one was looking and then looked back at him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Arnold pointed towards the door before he disappeared from the window. I considered calling after him, but remembered he couldn't hear me anyway. I looked at my classmates who had joined Patty and Harold in their tango even though they clearly didn't know the steps. I chuckled at how happy Patty looked before I snuck out of the room and headed towards my front door.

I was about to unhook the chain, but decided against it and simply unlocked the door and looked at Arnold through the small gap. I was about to yell when I noticed his clothes. The ripped jeans had been replaced with a pair of proper ones and he was wearing a white dress shirt with a gray vest over it. _He actually dressed up for the occasion?_ I wondered, but shook it off my mind.

"I told you not to come here!"

"And I believe I never said that I had changed my mind."

"I'm _not_ fighting you in my own home!" I told him before I tried to close the door, but he put his foot against it and I stopped pushing it, not wanting to hurt his foot. As soon as I had thought that, I frowned. Why did I care if I hurt his foot?

"Can I at least see you in the dress?" Arnold asked smugly.

"You've… already seen me in it." I told him, stomped on his foot and then closed the door once he had moved it. I slammed my back against the door, making sure to hold it closed and took the opportunity to force my heart to slow down its beat. _Why do you always do that when he's close?_ I asked the blood-pumping organ before adjusting my dress and walking back into the living room.

Phoebe instantly grabbed my hands and pulled me into a tango position. I laughed at the seriousness on her face and let her lead me around. We stepped around each other's feet, laughing at how clumsy we probably looked. She turned me around so that my back was turned to her and let go of my hands. I waved my hands from side to side, unsure what she wanted me to do since she had let go. I felt hands grabbing mine again and I laughed as I was turned back around.

"Arnold?!" I shrieked in shock and saw Phoebe behind him, shrugging at me bewilderedly. I was about to ask him what he thought he was doing when he put his hand on my back and pulled me closer. I stared at him in surprise as he led me to the side in perfect timing with the music. "You know tango?"

"My grandmother taught me." Arnold replied matter-of-factly before he tipped me down, smirking at how dumbfounded I must have looked.

I growled as he pulled me back up. "How did you get in here?"

"Hiding a spare key under a rock only works if it's among other rocks." He informed me.

I groaned. "Miriam." I muttered in annoyance and gasped when he suddenly twirled me under his arm again.

"Who is that?" I could hear Harold ask Patty over the music. "That's the guy that came to beat her up two days ago."

"What?!" Sid exclaimed and looked at Rhonda. "What's he doing here then?"

"Beats me."

"I'm confused." Stinky stated as he scratched his head. "Does this mean they're friends now or somethin'?"

"No!" Rhonda replied on my behalf, but then she hesitated. "At least, I don't think so…"

"We're not!" I yelled and looked back at Arnold with anger in my eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Dancing, obviously."

"Yes, but - - " I said before he twirled me around again. My back hit his chest and I let him put his hand on my stomach to guide me. "But _why_?" I asked, ignoring how fast my heart was beating.

"I wanted to see the dress in action."

"I'm not fighting with you." I said suspiciously. I didn't believe for one second that he was just here because of something like that.

"Whoa," he said sarcastically, took my hand and swung me away from him. "you're pretty obsessed with that, aren't you?"

"Me?!" I shrieked before he pulled me back in his embrace. "You're the one crashing my party in some pathetic attempt at pissing me off enough to throw my fist at you."

"Is it working?"

"No." I told him stubbornly.

"Hm, I clearly need to step up my game then."

 _Shit_ , I cursed in my mind when I felt him walk towards me with swift steps. I could barely keep up, but I maintained all my focus as he swung me around like a ragdoll and back into his arms. "I won't fall for that." I told him even as he lifted me up from the floor and turned around with me resting against his hips. _I'm gonna faint soon if he doesn't stop this!_

Arnold let completely go of me, but made sure I didn't actually fall to the floor. His hands left mine and I stepped back to get away from him. I wasn't sure why, but as he walked towards me, he did so in synch with the music and I took steps back in synch as well.

It wasn't until I hit something, presumably the table with drinks, that I stopped walking. My palms landed on the vertical wood and I kept my eyes on Arnold as he closed in on me. When he put his hands next to mine on the table, I swore I felt my heart stop beating. I exhaled sharply when he leaned closer to me, a hungry look in his eyes. I tried speaking up when his lips were a few inches away from mine, but someone else beat me to it.

"E-Enough!" Phoebe insisted in a squeaky voice. I could see her over Arnold's shoulders and detected her reddened cheeks. "Get away from her already."

I snuck under Arnold's arm and jogged towards my friends. I held a hand over my face, hoping to conceal the dark blush I knew was covering my skin. I could hear Sid joke about how it was getting hot in here and I wanted to do nothing more than to smack him at his comment, especially because I felt a chill go down my spine when I looked at Arnold again. He looked completely unfazed by the entire situation and it pissed me off.

Arnold put his hands up in defense. "Ok, alright, I know when I'm not wanted."

"It's not that you're not wanted." Sid said and put his arm over my shoulders. "But what are you doing touching my Helga?" he asked and I stared at him in shock. _His_ Helga? And when was that decided exactly?

" _Your_ Helga? Based on the look she's giving you right now, I don't think she agrees with you." Arnold said and looked at me with a chuckle. I wiggled out of Sid's grasp, looking at him as if he was insane before I looked back at Arnold. I crossed my arms, showing him one of my better scowls. "I'll leave, I'll leave…" he said and walked towards the door next to us. Then he smirked at me. "But first…"

My eyes widened when Arnold moved closer to me once again. I wasn't sure why, but I shut my eyes tight. I could have felt fear or anticipation, I wasn't really sure, but when I smelled something in front of my nose, I blinked my eyes open again. In front of me, between my and Arnold's eyes, he was holding a pink rose. I stared at it before he moved it to my right and I could feel him tugging it behind my ear and into my hair.

"A pink rose?" Nadine said quizzically as she observed the rose in my hair. "What does that mean?"

I could see Patty look at me curiously before she followed Arnold out in the hallway. I would have listened to their conversation, but I was too dumbstruck to hear anything but my own heartbeat. It was ringing in my ears and I thought I might fall to the floor soon. Blood was flowing through my entire body, warming me up and making my toes tingle. I closed my eyes again, hoping I would wake up in my own bed soon and that this whole night had been a dream and nothing more. I was too embarrassed to look at anyone before I heard a voice say my name.

I looked up at Patty and noticed that Arnold was still here. "I invited Arnold to stay." She told me matter-of-factly. I was about to throw a tantrum and she could see that, so she grabbed me by my arm and carried me out of the room. "Let me explain."

"Why would you do that?!" I hissed angrily.

"Because I saw the way you were looking at him." Patty answered. My eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "He could be the answer to the question."

"What question?"

" _What is Helga's sexuality_?" Patty responded. My mouth opened in disbelief and she waved her hands in defense. "Hey, even _I_ thought you were gay for a while, but that's not the point."

"Gay or not, Arnold is _not_ someone I want to spend time with!"

"Lying girl talking." Patty said with a smirk. I huffed at her, but she kept talking anyhow. "I saw the way you were dancing with him. Don't lie to me. You think he's at least a little interesting."

"Of course he's interesting; the same way asylum inmates are!" I insisted stubbornly and crossed my arms. Patty arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms as well. She was clearly waiting for me to agree with her and so, I sighed. "Ok, so I think there's more to him than meets the eye and he is kinda fun to be around… but that's it."

"Then let's see if it can become more." Patty suggested. I made a clear sound of discomfort as I looked into the living room where Arnold had once again a herd of girls around him. "You helped me," Patty said and made me look at her. "now I'll help you."

I breathed loudly and showed her a tense smile. She called me a good girl and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug before we walked back into the living room. Arnold noticed me immediately and sent me a look I understood too well; he wanted me to save him from the girls. I smirked at him, shook my head gleefully and walked back to the couch. I could see him grin in amusement at what I had done before he looked back at the girls dutifully.

Patty sent me a glare though and I walked back to Arnold with a sigh. "Hey," I said to the girls and they looked at me. "mind if I borrow the Football Head for a bit?" I didn't wait for them to answer before I grabbed him by the wrist, ignoring how my palm itched when I did so, and pulled him with me out in the hallway.

"Had a change of heart?" Arnold asked and cracked his knuckles playfully.

I slapped his hands to make him stop. "If you are only here for a fight, you can leave right this instance. I don't care in particular for this party, but my friends and classmates do so I won't be humoring you tonight. Leave right now if you can't promise me to behave."

"Ooh, tough girl means business." Arnold teased and I growled at him, which he laughed at. "I thought you didn't really care about this party?"

"I don't."

"Then why are you telling me this?"

"Because… Because I do care!" I admitted. "It's just easier to pretend that I don't."

"Why would you pretend?" Arnold asked, obviously curious.

I shrugged. "Because… by pretending for long enough it becomes the truth." I answered. "Life's easier if you don't worry… and if _you_ left, I'd worry a _lot_ less."

Arnold blinked slowly. He was clearly taking his time to let my words sink in though I wasn't sure why. "I got it." he said with a smile.

"So you'll leave?" I asked hopefully.

"No, I'm still staying."

My chin went to the floor. "Why?"

The blonde boy shrugged. "Your classmates seem like cool people… also, I'm hungry and you have both Yahoo sodas and my favorite chips." He responded casually and turned around to walk back into my living room.

I grabbed his wrist before I could stop myself and he looked at me over his shoulder. "Uh, I…" I started, wondering why I had stopped him to begin with. I felt him move and when I looked up, he was looming over me. Well, not _over_ me since I was taller, but I sure felt small under his gaze.

"Did you change your mind?"

"A… A-About what?"

"The fight?"

I scowled. "No!" I replied and pushed him away from me. I looked at him for a long time, contemplating whether I wanted to shake the boat and ask the question I had kept silent since the last time that I saw him. I decided that I didn't really care if I pissed him off anymore. His behavior was rotten too so why would I be polite? "When was the last time you ate?"

Arnold blinked before cocking an eyebrow. "That's a weird question."

"I'm a weird girl."

"No arguments there." He agreed and crossed his arms the same way I had earlier. He eyed me for a moment and I wondered if he was considering the pros and cons of telling me the truth. "I ate earlier this morning so don't worry; I'm not going to eat you poor."

 _This morning?_ I had thought and looked to the side to verify that it was already 10pm. "What about lunch?"

"What about it?"

"Why didn't you eat it?"

"I don't like lunch."

"You don't like lunch?"

"No."

I shot him a slanted look before I sighed. "Fine, if you don't want to talk to me - - " I said as I walked past him, fully intending to leave him alone in the hallway if he continued to act like a brat, but then he grabbed my wrist and I looked at him in surprise. He pulled me closer to him and I could feel my hand trace his chin. I kept it perfectly still, afraid I would accidentally touch him if I moved even an inch.

"It's not that I don't want to talk to _you_ about it…" Arnold said slowly, making sure I understood every word. "There are just some things I don't like talking about… I'm sure you feel the same way about some things."

I could feel my eyes travel around his face, taking in every detail, before I nodded. He slowly let go of my hand, letting the touch linger for a bit before he walked past me. My hand came up to my heart and I took a couple of deep breaths to make the dizzy feeling I had go away. _Why am I so curious about him?_ I wondered with a gulp and pretended that everything was normal when I returned to my party.

* * *

"Goodnight, Helga! Thanks for an awesome party!" Sid said as he waved at me.

"See you Monday!" I told my classmates as they all walked out of my house one by one. Patty nudged me teasingly and I just rolled my eyes before pushing her out of the door and closing it behind her. I sighed with relief. "Alone at last…"

"Depends on what you mean by alone."

I shrieked loudly and looked at the stairs where the voice had come from. Arnold was sitting on the steps with a smug grin on his face and I growled at him. "I thought you went home!"

"Did you see me walk out the door?"

"N-No…" I admitted with a sigh. I heard him stand up from the stairs, but I refused to look at him.

Arnold had been very civil through the rest of the party and we had talked here and there, but all in all, I had avoided him like the plague whenever I had the chance. I had caught him looking at me and it made me self-conscious. Kinda like right now as he was approaching me.

"So… party's over." Arnold said and I felt the meaning behind his words. "Wanna start another one?"

"No!" I screamed in disbelief and ran past him and into the living room. He followed me as he laughed and I couldn't help but laugh as well as we ran around the couch. I stopped and he stopped as well. We looked at each other, waiting for the other person's move. "Why are you still looking for a fight? Didn't you have fun tonight?"

"I did, but I still think it'd be more fun to fight with you." Arnold replied before he start running and I took off as well, laughing as I did so.

"Is fighting fun for you?!"

"When it's with you, yes."

"What does that even mean?" I asked before I felt myself fall over my own feet and crashed down on the carpet. I barely managed to turn around and see Arnold over my shoulder before he was already on the floor with me. He grabbed me by my hips, pulled me closer until my legs were resting on his thighs and then he pinned me to the floor.

"Caught ya'…" Arnold said as he breathed heavily.

I laughed breathlessly for a while, trying to tell my lungs to relax even though my heart was beating quickly. I could feel the rough fabric of his jeans on the back of my thighs and I suddenly became very aware that I was wearing a dress. I closed my mouth and gulped silently. I stayed perfectly still, afraid of what I would feel if I moved. There was a part of me that wanted to struggle out of his grip, but the other part of me was too nervous to see what would happen if I tried. And not because I feared his fists.

"You really are weird…" I stated without knowing why. He looked at me, his smile fading and replaced with serious curiosity to what I'd say. "I never thought… that the bratty Football Head I met that day would become a part of my life."

"Part of your life?"

"Well… you did kinda break into my life without my consent." I joked and chuckled.

Arnold kept looking at me as he hovered above me. My laughter died down and I could feel my chest restrain against the dress as I breathed heavily, but slowly. I gulped again when he leaned closer to me, his face mere inches away from my own.

"Do I have your consent to do this?" Arnold asked in a low voice that sounded rather seductive to me. I couldn't help but tighten my legs around him in nervousness. He made a low sound, a clear reaction to my subconscious action. My eyes widened and my lips part in a silent gasp. I expected him to do something that'd turn my world rose and starry, but he snickered instead.

"Oh, you should have seen your face." Arnold told me as he lifted himself off me. I blinked a couple of times before I sighed in embarrassment. He held his hand out for me to take and I briefly considered taking my revenge on him by acting childishly and not take his hand before I caved in and let him help me get back up. "I'll leave you alone now."

"Thank you!"

"Until next time that is."

I groaned at Arnold's hidden promise to break back into my life whenever he wanted, but there was a part of me that was smiling because of it. I followed Arnold to the front door and I opened it for him, showing my clear disinterest in him staying. He walked out with a smile on his face and I started waving at him sarcastically.

Then the blonde boy stopped walking all of a sudden. My waving hand stilled and I let it fall down to my hip in confusion. Arnold turned around and looked at me for a moment before he walked back to me. I almost considered slamming the door in his face, fearing he would try to start an actual fight this time, when he put his hand on the doorframe. I stared at him for what felt like forever before he leaned close to me and touched my lips gently with his own.

I stared at Arnold's closed eyelids, noting in the back of my mind that his eyelashes were really long as he kissed me softly. When my brain registered that Arnold was in fact kissing me, I leaned back with a gasp and put my fingers up to my lips as if I could get back my kiss by doing so. I could feel my eyes prickling as I stared at the thief of my first kiss, but I wasn't angry or sad. Just completely baffled.

"Helga…" Arnold said in that sultry, deep voice of his and leaned a little closer to me again and I couldn't help but lean back shyly. "Can I pursue you?"

"Purr…" I repeated and shook my head when I realized I had indirectly purred. "Pursue me…?"

Arnold didn't wait for my answer though and simply turned his back to me and continued his walk away from my house. I stayed in the doorframe, looking at him until he was out of my vision. I slowly closed the door, turned around and stared at my empty house. I put my fingers up to my lips again, touching them. They didn't feel any different, but something had definitely changed. I could still feel his kiss linger there. I looked to my right and saw my own reflection. I could see the pink rose Arnold had placed in my hair hours earlier and my face had an uncharacteristic blush to it that I hated. What in the world had Arnold been thinking?

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: I still don't know what to say! O_O Just… I hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to next chapter xD**


	4. Under my skin

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Bad behavior"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **At the party, Helga managed to help her friend Patty have a moment with her long time crush Harold, but just when she had, Arnold showed up as promised. To her surprise, he knew the tango and danced with her against her will. When Patty noticed the way they were looking at each other, she invited Arnold to stay, telling Helga to give the guy a chance since she had never seen her look at a guy like that before.**_

 _ **When the party was over, Arnold didn't leave with the others. After a chase around the living room, claiming he was looking for a fight, he was on his way home. Before he left though, he kissed Helga and asked her if he could pursue her, much to the blonde's embarrassment and confusion.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I still don't know what to say! Boy, am I original xD The only thing I can think of is that my one chapter a day streak might end with this because I have something to do today and tomorrow and after that I have a 24 hour exam so… I don't know when the next will be up, ok? But I'll try to squeeze it in so you guys don't have to wait for too long Cx**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 4: "Under my skin"

"Pursue you?!" the girls around me exclaimed in shock and I tried to shoosh them, but they obviously weren't listening to me. _Why, oh, why did I decide to tell them about this?!_ I wondered and looked towards the boys who were looking curiously in our direction.

"Pursue you? What does that even mean?" Nadine asked the other girls rather than me.

"Pursuing someone means to chase someone until they are caught." Phoebe explained.

"He told her he wanted to court her!" Lila exclaimed in that happy and squeaky voice I hated. "You have a suitor now, Helga. That's just ever so romantic!"

"So…" Nadine said thoughtfully. "He basically told you he fancies you?"

"In a very old-fashioned and formal way." Rhonda added.

I leaned back in my chair, looking at Patty who was smirking knowingly. "I-I guess… It's just, the way he said it didn't seem that serious… but I guess he was."

"How do you figure?" Sheena asked, clearly confused to why I would still think he had been sincere.

"Well, for one thing he ki - - " I started my sentence, but then choked on nothing. I did _not_ want to finish that sentence. I had spent the remainder of my weekend going through that memory, trying to get rid of the feeling I got whenever I thought about it… which was basically 24/7.

"He…?" Rhonda repeated and hummed. "He kicked you?"

"No!" I replied and rolled my eyes. "Well, he did, but not at the party.

I sighed as the girls continued to guess what I had been about to say. I turned my head, not particularly interested in looking at anything special until I noticed the way Phoebe was looking at me. I stared back at her, trying to figure out what she was thinking, but once I realized, it was too late.

"He kissed you!" Phoebe cried out loudly and held her mouth the instant she heard herself say it. All the girls looked at me simultaneously and I promised myself to give Phoebe a thorough mental beating later.

"Who kissed you?" Eugene asked curiously from the other side of the classroom with his usual kind, innocent smile.

"No one!" I insisted, but the boys were curious now too and were approaching us.

"Wait. Was it that Arnold guy from the party?" Harold asked before he sat down next to Patty, which I couldn't help but smile at.

"I told him to stay away from my Helga!" Sid declared dramatically as he sat down next to me. He was about to put his arm over my shoulders, but I grabbed his wrist in an iron grip and he pulled back instantly.

Sid wasn't serious and I knew that. It had been one of his running jokes since 7th grade when I'd had a huge transformation over summer. Like with my sister Olga, all of my curves came over the course of those three months and I didn't look like Helga when it was time for school again. Well, not the Helga they knew at least. Sid had practically been drooling in shock, was bullied for that and then he had declared that he would woo me. He sure as hell never tried to actually hit on me so I assumed he wasn't serious. Not that I would have said yes if he had been.

"I can't believe you let him." Rhonda said in excited disbelief.

Clearly, to her, I was unapproachable. Which was kind of true since I hadn't been interested in _anyone_ my entire life hence why some people thought I was gay. I never corrected anyone if they assumed that I was because, frankly, it's not an insult. I didn't really care if people saw me as straight or lesbian as long as they knew not to make me angry.

"I didn't _let_ him. He took me by surprise."

"He stole your first kiss?" Lila bellowed unhappily. "That's ever so mean…"

"He didn't steal my…" I started, but then thought it through. My entire life, it was only Olga who had ever kissed me and that had been on the forehead or the occasional cheek. My forehead fell to my table in realization. "He _did_ …"

"Why didn't you smack him?" Patty asked. I could hear the amusement in her voice though.

"I was in a state of shock… and then came that question."

"What question?" Harold asked and looked at Patty.

She flashed her eyelashes dramatically. "Can I _pursue_ you?" she responded to which the boys laughed loudly.

"Who the fuck says something like that?!" Sid asked in disbelief, holding his stomach as he chortled.

"Someone with a little manners actually." Rhonda interfered and the boys went quiet in surprise. "Clearly, by asking her something like that he was asking for her _permission_ to keep flirting with her. That's more than can be said for some." She continued and scowled at Curly who was flashing his eyelashes at her romantically. He blew a kiss at her and she groaned in disgust.

"What was your response to that, miss Helga?" Stinky asked me curiously.

"I… didn't get to answer." I admitted and lifted myself off the table. "He was gone before I could say anything. I was too shocked."

"He could have taken that silence as a yes, you know." Sheena pointed out. I groaned and let my head fall back on the table. "Is that so bad? He didn't seem as violent and aggressive at the party as I had thought."

"Depends on what kind of aggressive you're talking about." Nadine interfered and giggled at the memory. "That tango seemed pretty _aggressive_."

"That's how you interpret that?" I asked as I turned my head to the side to look at her.

Nadine shrugged. "It seemed like you were having a little fun."

 _It wasn't a complete waste of time_ , I thought, but didn't answer Nadine's hidden question. At that moment, our teacher decided to join us in the classroom and people went back to their designated seats. I looked out the window, resting my chin in my palms, as I thought about Saturday night once again. _I wonder if he's going to be waiting for me once school's over?_

* * *

I wasn't sure how to feel on my way out of the school once the day was over. My classmates were following me curiously; they were obviously hoping that Arnold would be waiting for me at the gates. They didn't outright admit it, but I wasn't an idiot. When we came outside and saw Arnold stand at the gates, as I had feared slash awaited, they didn't hold back their questions though.

"So, what are you gonna do, Helga?" Sid asked curiously.

"Are you gonna beat the shit out of him?" Harold asked and cracked his knuckles. "I'll help you if you want me to."

"She's not going to hit him!" Nadine insisted. "Not after his confession, right, Helga? That'd be cruel even for you."

"I hope she'll confess her own feelings for him." Lila admitted distractedly.

"She doesn't have feelings for him so how can she do that?" Rhonda asked as she rolled her eyes.

"Wait," Stinky said and scratched his head. "I'm confused - - "

"Would you all just shut up?!" I screamed before Stinky could tell us what had confused him this time. They all stared at me as I contemplated my options. I looked back at Arnold who hadn't noticed me yet and took a deep breath. I walked with confident steps towards him and knew very well that my classmates were following me.

I didn't look in Arnold's direction even when he looked at me. I kept my eyes straightforward and walked past him with a smug smile on my face. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of me acknowledging his presence. I had barely walked ten steps away from the gates before I felt a familiar hand grab my wrist. He swung me around until I had my back against the wall and I was looking at him.

"Are you just going to ignore me?" Arnold asked with a hidden smile on his face, but it wasn't as broad or smug as I had grown accustomed to. I didn't answer, but just looked in the direction of my classmates who were all standing there and watching us. Arnold looked at them and let go of my hand. "Did you bring bodyguards?"

"I don't need bodyguards!" I told him before I scowled at my friends. "Would you guys get outta here?"

"We're worried about you." Harold insisted and crossed his arms.

"The hell you are. You just want to see what happens."

"Well…" Harold said in surrender and scratched his neck.

I sighed. "Get outta here!" I told them and they dispersed, knowing full well what I'd do to them if they didn't. I looked back at Arnold and he looked at me. "You just don't give up, do you?" I asked before continuing my walk.

"What would I give up on?"

"That fight! I have a hard time believing that you can't just find someone else, it's not like I'm amazing or anything." I insisted and saw him walk up next to me with an expression of disbelief. I looked at him. "What?"

"You're a pretty amazing person, Helga." He said and I made a sound of surprise before looking ahead. I could feel him looking at me like he wanted to say something, but changed his mind. He shook his head and looked forward. "Don't tell me you feel awkward because of what I asked you Saturday night?"

"It's cute that you think you have an actual impact on my life." I retorted and gave myself a mental pat on my shoulder for my acting skills. "You're right though; it _was_ an awkward question. Who the hell asks someone if they can _pursue_ them?"

"Well, I am pursuing you, aren't I?" he asked me. "I've been chasing you for almost a week now."

I blinked. _Wait. What? Did he mean that kind of pursuing? As in chasing me until I will fight him? Are you kidding me?!_ I wondered and felt anger boil inside of me. _Criminy, I'm so stupid!_ "Well, it's still weird to ask for _permission_. I mean, you've been doing it so far without my approval, what changed?" I asked him, refusing to meet his gaze. I felt so ashamed for misunderstanding something so simple.

I could see Arnold shrug in my peripheral vision. "I've gotten to know you. At least a little bit." He insisted. "Besides, I want to prove to you that I have better manners than you think."

I snorted loudly at that comment and tried to hide it, but I couldn't help but chuckle. He was clearly amused by my reaction, but I still felt a little bad for him because I had laughed so loudly. "Good manners? _You_? Surely you jest."

" _Jest_?" he repeated in surprise and I simply shrugged. I was allowed to have a big vocabulary; you needed to if writing poetry was a hobby of yours, but he did _not_ need to know that. No one did. "I was brought up knowing what was right and what was wrong."

"Well, since you're walking around picking fights with people, clearly your parents failed." I stated matter-of-factly. I noticed that Arnold had stopped walking and I turned around to see him show me a tense stare. I blinked in realization. "Or… whoever raised you?" I tried gently.

He cracked his shoulders. "They did good." He insisted and walked past me since I hadn't started walking yet.

I followed him for a moment before I couldn't help myself. " _Well_." I corrected. He stopped and turned to look at me. "They did _well_." I clarified and looked at him defiantly, half expecting him to get angry at me for correcting his grammar, but he just snickered.

" _Well_." He corrected himself. He smiled at me as I walked up next to him and we continued down the street. We were quiet for a bit before I decided to take the chance. He had already semi-admitted it to me, so maybe he could finally tell me a little bit about himself.

"Who raised you?" I asked matter-of-factly as if I was already sure that his parents didn't.

Arnold didn't seem too keen on answering my question at first. I looked at him for a moment and after looking at me, his resolve seemed to falter. "My grandparents." He replied almost casually, but I could hear the silent pain behind his words.

I looked away from him, hoping the lack of eye contact would make him less uncomfortable. I knew I felt weird when he looked at me. "Are they… still here?"

Arnold chuckled. "I assume so."

"So you don't know?" I asked, insulted by how he apparently thought my concern for him was amusing. _Wait, hold on. Concern?_ I repeated in my mind before I saw him shrug.

"I… haven't seen them in a while."

"Because…?" I tried to probe, but he just looked at me. I looked back, forgetting my initial plan to keep my eyes away from him. I had enough time to blink a couple of times before he grabbed me by my shoulders and pushed me up against a tree. I glared at him, but didn't try to wiggle out of his attack which, frankly, came out of nowhere. "What?"

"I thought I told you not to pry."

"No, you asked me whether I understood that there were certain things you didn't want to talk about."

"And you said yes."

"That means I understand. Not that I wouldn't ask. Unlike you, I wasn't raised to be well-mannered. I was raised to do whatever I needed to get what I wanted."

"And what do you want?" Arnold asked and that caught me by surprise. What did I want exactly? Why did I care who raised Arnold, why he apparently hadn't seen his caretakers for a while and when he had or hadn't eaten? Why did I give a crap about this guy? I didn't know the answer, all I knew is that I did care. I hated it, but it was the truth.

"I…" I started, but I didn't know how to continue the sentence so I let it hanging.

I looked away from his piercing eyes. "You…?" he inquired and tilted his head to the side to make me look at him, but I just moved my face further away. He said my name softly though and I looked up at him, subconsciously hiding behind my eyelashes. There was something in his eyes that should have warned me, something about the way he was looking at me that should have told me what he was planning and yet, when he leaned down to kiss me, I gasped in surprise.

I put my hands on Arnold's arms which had traveled down to my waist and was holding my securely. I tried pushing them down, but I could feel my strength leaving me almost instantly. He never bothered to close his eyes so I could see every emotion swimming in them since I had refused to close mine as well. I almost wanted to shut my eyes tight just so I didn't have to look at him because this sort of intimacy made my knees buckle more than the kiss itself.

I closed my eyes when I felt something wet brush against my lower lip, I hasped and he took advantage of my mouth being open and slipped his tongue inside. I could feel my legs move around in a feeble attempt to kick at him, but they were never even close to do that. He stepped closer to me, pressing his stomach against mine and trapping me between himself and the tree.

I wondered why I didn't just lift my fist and punch him. My arms were free, it would have been so easy, but it never crossed my mind to actually hurt him. Instead, I just kept pushing weakly at his chest as if I didn't want him to kiss me. I couldn't figure out what to think or feel when I finally used all of my strength and pushed him away from me.

I was breathing heavily as I put my arm up in front of my lips. "What does that mean?" I asked him. "Of course I'm gonna misunderstand what you mean if you do that!" I told him angrily and looked away in shame at having admitted that I had thought he had confessed to me. Without looking at him, I secured my backpack over both of my arms and ran down the street.

It didn't take long before I realized that Arnold was following me even though I couldn't fathom why he would. My eyes were stinging and I really didn't want to look him anymore today. That was my thought when I felt my backpack being pulled back. I could hear Arnold gasp as I fell, but rather than feeling the asphalt hit my back and crack my skull open, I felt an arm wrap around me.

"Sorry, I didn't think that you'd fall." Arnold told me worriedly. I opened my eyes apprehensively and saw Arnold above me. I looked down at the asphalt and noticed the pressure against my lower back and connected it to his arm. I looked up at him again in disbelief. "Are you ok?"

"Let go!" I screamed and pushed at him. He let go of me in surprise and I fell down on the asphalt, but it was a short fall so all I did was groan before I sat up.

"What did you do that for, you idiot?" Arnold asked me in disbelief.

"Don't you _dare_ call me an idiot! I told you," I said as I stood up. "I don't want to fight you, I don't want your help and I most of all don't want you to _ever_ do that again!"

"What exactly?"

"You know what." I told him and arched my back, hoping I looked more confident than I felt.

"You didn't seem to hate it."

"Did you miss the fact that I was trying to push you away?"

Arnold's chin dropped in surprise, but he smiled as well. " _That_ was you trying to push me away? Please…" he said and walked towards me as I walked back. "I know you're stronger than that, Helga. If you really wanted me to stop, you could have stopped it before it even began."

I felt a wall behind me, cursing it in my mind when Arnold had me trapped once again with both of his hands next to my head. "I was dumbstruck." I said. "I didn't think you would have been so stupid to try a stunt like that again."

"You had _plenty_ of time to come to your senses." He insisted and leaned closer to my ear. I shut my eyes when I felt his breath run down my neck and once again, the anger I would usually feel just made me shiver with something else. "Especially when I snuck my tongue inside your mouth…" he whispered and I felt some hot and wet flesh lick the shell of my ear.

I keened at the feeling and pushed Arnold away from me, stumbling back as I did so. "Stop it!"

"Why? Because of your Misophobia?"

" _Phonia_." I corrected. "And no! I mean, yes, I mean - - Just stop!"

"You have to give me a reason." Arnold insisted and put his hands on his hips.

"Because I hate it!"

"An _honest_ reason."

"How the hell do you know if I'm lying or not?!" I asked in disbelief and refused to move when he approached my again. I refused to let him know how much he was getting to me. I refused to be played with. I refused this entire situation.

"Your heart is beating like crazy," Arnold stated as he put his hand over my left breast without actually touching it. "your pulse is really high," he continued as he lifted his hand up and let his thumb graze the soft spot between my throat and clavicle. "and I seriously doubt it's because you're _scared_ of me…"

I gulped with a bit of trouble since Arnold had his finger on my throat. I wanted to tell him he was wrong, but with the way he had said it, he knew that if I did that I would admit being scared of him and that sure as hell wasn't the truth! "I'm not scared of anyone…" I said instead, hoping I had saved my ass by phrasing it like that, but the way Arnold was smirking at me, I knew he still assumed that it meant he was right. "That doesn't mean that I like what you're doing though! And I don't get it either! Is this some twisted way to get me angry so I'll fight you?"

When Arnold smirked at me, I clenched my teeth, connected my fingers to make a fist and swung it at him. He stumbled back, unsurprised. He looked at me and I scowled deeply at him. I refused to give him what he wanted, but that didn't mean I was going to let him get away with whatever. I was sick of the way he was messing with my life and how much he seemed to enjoy making me feel uncomfortable.

"You've had your fun. Get out of my life already." I spit at him before I turned my back on him. I fully intended to leave it there, I was done with this. I was happy with my life before he decided to come crashing into it. Now I just wanted things to be normal again.

"I'll tell you." I heard Arnold say behind me and I stopped walking, eyeing him over my shoulder. "I'll answer your questions." He continued and that made me turn around completely.

"Why?" I asked in incredulity. He had been so secretive and even got angry when I asked him about it so what changed his mind?

"Because I… don't want to get out of your life." He said and arched his back. That surprised me. I stared at him for a long time, wondering if I actually believed him or not. I considered turning my back to him. Was I really curious enough to let go of the chance to finally be rid of him? "Hey, I'm giving you an offer here. I could technically just keep stalking you."

I sighed when I realized he was right. And I was genuinely curious about him. "Fine." I said and crossed my arms. "Start talking."

"Not here."

"Oh, come on - - "

"No, we'll… we'll just go to my friend's place, ok? That's where I'm staying right now." Arnold told me and start walking. I was starting to reconsider my curiosity. Did I really trust this guy enough to follow him to a private place like that? When he asked me if I was coming or not though, I decided I could always neuter him if he tried anything.

* * *

I looked around awkwardly as I sat next to Arnold on a couch in a strange apartment. We were far away from where I lived, but I had made sure I knew exactly what direction to run to in case he tried something again. We were quiet and just when I had lost my patience he spoke.

"Want something to drink?" he asked.

I wanted to tell him no because I was really curious and impatient about his life and why he was living with his friend, but I decided to let him anyway. I shrugged at him and he stood up before I could even think about changing my mind. _It really is weird though_ , I thought as I watched him leave the living room. _How the hell do you end up mooching on your best friend?_

At that moment, I heard the front door open and I almost hid out of habit. His friend didn't know he had invited me to his place after all, but before I could find a place to hide, the guy walked into the room. He had been about to call for Arnold when he saw me. I shook my head when I saw the guy walk into the room. He was African-American, tall and with high afro hair… and I knew him.

"Gerald?!" I exclaimed in shock at the sight of Phoebe's boyfriend.

"Helga?" he asked as I stood up from the couch. "What are you doing in my apartment? How did you get in? Wait… did Phoebe sent you or something? Is she ok - - "

"Sheesh, if you'd shut up for a second I'd explain it to you!" I told him. When I was about to ask him how he knew Arnold though, the boy in question walked in with two glasses in his hands. He looked between us awkwardly.

"Oh, sorry, Gerald. I didn't think you'd be home already… Why are you looking at me like that?" Arnold asked.

Gerald pointed at me. "How do you know Helga?"

"How do _you_ know Arnold?!" I asked.

"How do _you_ know Gerald?!" Arnold asked and I waved my hands in frustration.

"One at a time!" I shouted and sighed. "I know Gerald because he's Phoebe's boyfriend."

"Phoebe?"

"The short Asian girl who told you to leave me alone last Saturday." I explained to him.

Arnold looked at Gerald. "So that's your girlfriend? Why wouldn't you let me meet her?"

"Because of how you've been acting lately!" Gerald told him and looked at me. "If Phoebe has been complaining why I wouldn't let her meet my best friend then you probably know why now."

"Can't blame you." I stated and crossed my arms. "How do you two know each other?"

"We've known each other since preschool." Arnold explained as he put the glasses away.

"I actually knew that…" I said. "since I know now that you're the infamous best friend Phoebe's boyfriend wouldn't allow her to meet."

"And how do _you two_ know each other?" Gerald asked as he pointed between us. "That's the real mystery here!"

"I saved his sorry ass from some punks." I told Gerald cockily. "Not that he ever thanked me for it."

"Saved his - - " Gerald repeated and looked at Arnold angrily. "Did you get into _another_ fight? Man, what is wrong with you?!"

"So it really is a hobby of his?"

"You could say that." Gerald said with a sigh and walked towards the couch. He sat down and ran his hands through his hair to let the information sink in. "Did it happen just now?"

"No, a week ago actually." Arnold answered.

Gerald looked at me. "Why are you still hanging around him?"

"Beats me." I replied honestly which Arnold rolled his eyes at. "He's… interesting." I admitted and saw the hidden smile Arnold made at my confession.

"That's one way to put it…" Gerald said and leaned back with a sigh. "So… she's the one you've been chasing the last week?"

I looked at Arnold curiously at that comment and he flinched. "What has he been telling you?"

"Huh?" Gerald said as if he wasn't really listening. "Oh, just that he met this really fascinating girl, not much else. He's been so secretive since we found out his parents died."

My entire body froze at the information and Gerald slapped his hands on his mouth in shock. He clearly hadn't thought his words through before speaking them and we both looked at Arnold in apprehension. I could see his shoulders shaking and he had a wild look in his eyes.

"Gerald… I can't believe you." He told the darker boy as he approached him.

I jogged in front of him and put my hands on Arnold's chest. "Wait! You were gonna tell me that yourself anyway, right?" I asked him. I wasn't sure why I was protecting Gerald of all people, but he was my best friend's boyfriend after all. Arnold's lips were two thin lines, but he relaxed at my touch and simply looked away from us. I let my hands fall down his chest and turned to look at Gerald. "I know this is your apartment, Gerald, but Arnold was about to answer some questions so… mind bugging off?"

Gerald rolled his eyes at my words, but stood up anyway. "Fine with me. I gotta come clean to Phoebe now anyway before _you_ tell her." he answered and walked towards the living room doorframe, but stopped. "I'm sorry, Arnold." he said before he disappeared.

I looked at Arnold for a moment before I sat down carefully on the couch and waited for him to join me. When he didn't, I touched his hand softly. He flinched at my touch, he had clearly been in his own world until I pulled him back. I tugged at his sleeve and he sat down next to me. He looked at me for a bit before he sighed.

"Don't look at me like that." He told me. I wasn't sure what kind of face I had been making, but I looked away from him and waited patiently for him to start talking. When he did, I couldn't help but look at him again. "My parents left me with my grandparents when I was a baby… To make a long story short, they had some friends in San Lorenzo who needed their help and… they had saved their lives before so they wanted to pay them back for their kindness… They never returned."

Arnold opened his mouth to continue speaking, but then he clenched his teeth. I didn't want him to stop there, so I did the only thing I could think of that would encourage him; I touched his hand slightly. I just put my fingers on the back of his hand at first, but he turned his hand around and tangled his fingers with mine. He seemed so uncharacteristically vulnerable all of a sudden.

"About a year ago… a friend of theirs, named Eduardo, came to my grandparents' home and… told us my parents were dead. The plague they had tried to save their friends from took them and they… they died right after discovering the cure and giving it to everyone else before themselves." Arnold continued solemnly, but then gave a hateful snort. "People say they died heroes…"

"Why would you care about them being heroes?" I asked and he looked at me. "You must feel so angry that you've had to hear about your parents from someone else your entire life. Their intentions were honorable, but they left you…"

Arnold's eyes widened at my words and I looked questioningly at him. "No one has ever… ever understood that before." He told me. "I always felt so guilty for being angry at them, but you… you understood without me even telling you."

I could feel my heart swell. Before I knew what I was doing, I had put my hand on his cheek and turned his head to look at me. He watched me through half-lidded eyes as I put my other hand up on his other cheek as well. I gazed at him for a while before he suddenly whipped away from me.

"That is exactly what I meant. I don't want your pity!" he told me as he clenched his eyes tightly.

I scowled at his words, grabbed him by his cheeks and forced him to look at me again. "This isn't pity!" I hissed at him and he looked at me in awe. "This is… anger… sadness and… s-something else." I told him. I wasn't sure what that _something else_ was or how strong it was, but it was there no matter how much I tried to deny it.

I was about to hug Arnold when he grabbed my wrists and moved forward to kiss me. I choked on the kiss as he pushed me down on the couch, putting his hand under my hip for leverage so he could feel my stomach against his. He put his other hand under my head and angled it to deepened the kiss. In horror, I realized that I had moaned and pushed him away from me.

"And right away you take advantage of my kindness!" I complained in a heated voice as I felt warmth fill my entire body. Arnold looked at me with a pair of eyes that took my breath away. They were filled with sorrow, hope and plead as he leaned towards me again. I clenched my lips, but accepted his kiss when his mouth met mine again. I couldn't help myself; I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck. I wasn't trying to encourage him, I really wasn't, but he had been looking at me as if I was the only one who could make soothe him.

I wasn't there just yet, but I was almost ready to admit that this cocky, annoying, bratty, violent, aggressive, overly confident and yet so vulnerable, sweet and romantic boy had gotten under my skin.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: Bet you didn't see that one coming, did ya'? *Wink wink* ha-ha xD I didn't either! Seriously, the Gerald thing came to me as I was writing xD**


	5. A silly little thing

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Bad behavior"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **After telling her classmates about Arnold's rather formal confession, Helga ignored him when he was waiting for her after school. After realizing his confession may not have been what she thought, Helga went straight back to hating Arnold once more. After kissing her again, she punched him, but he swore he would answer her questions if she wouldn't throw him out of his life.**_

 _ **After coming to Arnold's friend's apartment, Helga realized that Gerald, Phoebe's boyfriend, was in fact Arnold's temporary roommate. Arnold confessed the truth about his parents' death and Helga realized to her horror that perhaps all she felt him wasn't pity.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: Done! My exams are** _ **done**_ **! And I ended it with a bang; A+ in English oral xD (A+ is the highest grade you can get in for example the US, right? In Denmark we grade with numbers so I'm not sure xD) So now I can write again!**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 5: "A silly little thing"

" _Today I don't feel like doing anything… I just wanna lay in my bed…_ " I sang to myself and sighed. "Which I am, but I'm also doing something."

I sat up on my bed, swinging my hair with me in the process. It would have hit my face if I hadn't tied it up in high pigtails, which was a habit of mine when I was alone. When I was a child, I wore pigtails 24/7, but dumped that habit instantly when I reached a certain age and that hairstyle began to attract some rather _interesting_ people. I sighed as I readjusted my glasses, frowning since I hadn't gotten used to the black frame I could still see around my eyes.

"Damn you, Miriam." I said, blaming my increasingly bad sight on my mother. She was the only one who wore glasses in my family, so who else would I blame? I hadn't started wearing these glasses until about a month ago though and I still wasn't all that used to them. I had stopped forgetting them though and actually used them when doing homework. They were reading and screen glasses, so I didn't have to wear them all the time. Though, if you ask me, in this day and age reading and screen glasses _are_ 24/7 glasses.

The sound of something knocking on my window caught my ears and I looked briefly towards it, expecting to see nothing. I saw something bright in the dark evening though and turned around once more to look properly. My eyes widened at the sight of Arnold standing outside my window in the pouring rain, smiling somehow meekly at me.

I closed my book instantly and jumped at the window, sitting on my knees on the bed as I opened it. "What the hell are you doing here?" I asked in a low voice to make sure that my parents didn't hear him. When he didn't answer me, I got the chance to look him over. "Why are you so wet? You look like a drowned rat."

"I, uh…" Arnold started almost seriously, but then snickered. "Pigtails?"

In horror, I remembered that I was in my homework-look, which didn't only include the pigtails and the glasses. I was also wearing an oversized white nightshirt. I had only just grabbed my glasses and took ahold of one of my pigtails before Arnold put his hand over mine to stop me.

"No, don't." he said and took my glasses out of my hands. I closed my eyes as he put them back on and I looked at him nervously. I wasn't sure what he was thinking as he studied me. "Pigtails and glasses… you look like a school girl from a bad porn."

"That's it!" I declared and went to grab my pigtails again, but he had anticipated that and was ready to stop me.

"It suits you, I swear."

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment." I said, but gave up on the idea of hiding it anymore. He had already seen me in my most embarrassing state anyway and why I had even cared, I didn't know. "What are you doing here?"

"Why do you think?"

"Arnold, not now. Seriously this time… I'm doing homework." I told him and decided to ignore him. Maybe he would leave if I did. Though former experience told me otherwise.

"What homework?" Arnold asked once I had seated myself against the wall with my book resting on my raised lap.

I looked at him in surprise. "Why?"

He shrugged as he sat next to me. "I'm out of shape."

"Why? Don't you go to school?" I asked him, but regretted my question almost instantly. He got a tense look in his eyes that I hated and wanted to go away more than him going away altogether. "I'm doing math."

"Oh, I was good at math. Where are you?" Arnold asked me and looked in my book. I couldn't help but notice the surrealism of the situation. Here I was, sitting on my bed with a guy - whom I had only known for a week and only knew because his biggest wish was to fight me – and he was asking me about my homework. I pointed at where I was, trying to ignore how much his wet hair tickled when it fell down against my cheek. He leaned over me, grabbed my pencil and wrote something on the piece of paper I had on the book.

I looked it over before gawking at him. "How the hell did you figure that out so fast?"

He just shrugged. "Stuff like math was always easier for me than English."

"Oh, the stereotypical male and female minds." I said sarcastically. "Math is easier because it only has one solution and is logical, so it makes sense for you. While English makes more sense to me because I can be creative and interpret things my way."

Arnold smiled at me and I could have sworn I detected a hint of awe. "Impressive. Do you study psychology too?" he asked with a joking undertone.

"No, I just know how to read between the lines."

"I've always been too dense to do that."

"I can imagine." I said with complete honesty. "Maybe an actual punch of mine could knock some sense into you."

"I'd like to see you try." Arnold challenged before he grabbed me by my hips and threw me down on my bed. I laughed in surprise at his action, but that didn't mean I was comfortable with it. I still hadn't come to terms with these newborn feelings of mine and I wasn't even sure if they were what I thought they were just yet. Arnold was a confusing guy so maybe he was just subconsciously messing with me.

A knock on my door caused us both to look towards it, but Arnold didn't move until I pushed him upwards. "Yeah?" I asked apprehensively and looked back at the blonde next to me, suddenly _very_ aware that he was a boy and that I was a girl and that he was in my room.

"Helga, I need to talk to you." Bob said from the other side of the door. "Unlock you door."

I looked at Arnold pleadingly, cocking my head towards the window, but he shook his head. Instead, he looked towards the door to the attic that was attached to my room. He clearly didn't know what to expect when he stood up and opened the door, but he went inside anyway, barely closing the door after him.

 _Oh, this is a bad idea_ , I thought as I stood up from my bed and went to unlock my door so I could let my dad into my room. "What do you want this late, Bob?" I asked, wondering if I was angry with him for interrupting my homework like Arnold had or if he had interrupted me with Arnold.

"I need your help." Bob responded as he walked into my room.

I had to blink a couple of times before I could close the door. "That's… new." I declared and crossed my arms. "And suspicious. With what, exactly?"

Bob turned to look at me and crossed his arms. "I'm going to be attending the annual Hillwood Buffet tomorrow night. A lot of my clients are going to be there - - "

"And a lot of potential ones?" I asked before he could finish his sentence.

"Don't interrupt me, young lady."

"I _will_ interrupt you because I already know what you're going to ask and I'm not going! Sheesh, I'm 16-years-old, you can't pimp me out!"

"That's not what I'm doing, missy. Look, there is this woman named Henrietta Finch who has recently taken over her father's company, but she's not too good at the business part just yet."

"So why do you need my help? Sounds like easy bait."

"Her son, George, is a lawyer and he makes sure that she doesn't get hustled."

I hummed in realization and smiled. "So what you want me to do is to distract her smart son so you can make the poor woman invest a lot of money in _your_ company." I said and my smile faded instantly. "I'm not gonna be smooching some old creepy - - "

"He's 20-years-old."

" _What_?! How is he a lawyer?"

"Smart kid."

"If he's that smart I can't trick him anyway."

"All men are suckers for a pretty face. No matter how smart they are."

 _I'm not sure how to feel about that information_ , I thought and sighed. "I'm not doing it, Bob. I literally _can't_." I said. "I don't have that Pataki charm you talked about."

"Yes, you can and you _will_ do it. Why? Because if I land this deal, I can buy you whatever you want as a reward. We'll be millionaires!"

"Mil…" I said, but shook my head before my pupils turned into dollar signs. I looked around in my room, imagining all the things I could do with it if he really got that deal. "You're… sure you can't do it on your own?"

"Maybe I could, but you won't get a cent if you don't help me."

 _Typical_ , I thought. "Fine! Criminy, I'll help you just this once." I told him before he started to ruffle my hair.

"That's my girl! We'll leave at 7pm tomorrow." Bob told me before he walked out of my room again with a wide grin on his face.

I locked the door after him, sighing as I did so. "Now I know how Olga felt when _she_ was his wind-up doll." I muttered to myself, turned my back to the door and crossed my arms.

I heard a small creak and looked up to see Arnold coming out of the attic. I had completely forgotten about him, but his face told me that he had heard everything. I looked away from him, too ashamed to admit that my own dad was using me for his own rotten schemes. I couldn't care less about this Henrietta Finch and if she really was so stupid to fall for my dad's tricks, but I hated smooching people to get what I wanted. I wasn't good at it, I believed I was above it, but my opinion hardly mattered in this situation.

"I should… probably leave." Arnold said in a low voice and walked towards the window. My heart stung because of his words, but I couldn't blame him. I would leave too if I could.

"Sure." I said simply and crawled onto my bed, watching him in my peripheral vision as he opened the window. I had expected him to jump out and presumably never come back, but he hesitated.

Suddenly, he leaned down to me and I turned my head to look at him questioningly. "You're better than that." He told me in a quiet voice. His voice was full of trust and it just hurt more than it should have.

Once he had jumped out of the window, I listened to his footsteps as he jogged through the rain. I let my head fall back on the wall, ignoring the open window for a while. _No, I'm not_.

* * *

"I hate this dress with a burning passion." I said as I desperately tried to cover up my uncovered arms with my glove-clad hands. "I feel so naked!"

"It only gives the illusion, darling." The tailor told me as he readjusted the beads that went across my chest, down my shoulders and down the back of the dress until it reached my lower back. "There's invisible fabric on your back."

"Hey, as long as people can see the color of my skin, it's _naked_ and _must_ that bow be there?" I asked as I looked myself in the mirror.

"You love bows!" Bob bellowed in disbelief.

"Not on my _ass_!" I whispered in embarrassment.

Bob and the tailor sighed simultaneously, clearly stating that they thought I was just being difficult. Perhaps I was, but the discomfort I felt in this form-fitting, baby pink dress drove me to it. It was incredibly tight on my breasts, my stomach and down to my knees until it went out in something akin to a tulle skirt without the actual tulle. The beads down my shoulders made it hard to move my arms and there were three rows of those pink beads all the way down my back and ending in that hideous bow that was as broad as my hips. It was embarrassing to know that I was going to be seen like this.

I knew I wasn't going to win the fight, but I fought against it with every fiber of my being anyhow. As I had expected, I didn't win, and Bob took me to the Hillwood Buffet in this ghastly dress that truly suited the whole pimping me out scenario. With style of course.

"I feel like an escort." I whispered to my dad as I took his arm and let him follow me inside Circle Theater. Since Circle Theater had been declared as a historical landmark for Hillwood, it had become _the_ place to entertain. Be it more casual parties for young people or formal gatherings like this one. "How am I supposed to use my so-called _Pataki charm_ if I don't feel like _me_?"

"You're not supposed to be _you_. You're supposed to be a better you, a superior you." Bob said as he showed his invitation to some guy whose only goal in life was to check whether people were actually invited or not.

"So much for the natural charm." I muttered.

"Hey, little lady." Bob said once we were inside and made sure only I could hear him. "Remember why you're doing this."

"Because I love you?" I suggested sarcastically.

"Because you love money." Bob clarified.

 _That's you, not me… though I guess I am a bit materialistic too_ , I admitted to myself.

"Smile, Helga." Bob said and put on his own best toothpaste grin. I clenched my teeth, open my mouth as wide as I could and gestured to my mouth as I did so. Bob frowned at me. "A _real_ smile."

"I don't smile a lot, dad." I told him and let the smile disappear.

"I never noticed." Bob said casually before nodding at a waiter who came to give us the welcome drinks.

"And that's why I don't smile a lot." I whispered to myself and drank the entire champagne glass in one go as soon as Bob had given it to me.

"You really are your mother's daughter." Bob said with a small frown before he gave me another glass of champagne, still holding his first one in his other hand.

"Yeah," I said and chugged down the next one too. "that's how you know I'm Miriam's daughter. It has nothing to do with the fact that we're _both_ being strung along by Big Bob Pataki."

Bob ignored my words or either he didn't hear them. He was looking around for something and I looked as well. All around me were people from a different world. Almost a different galaxy. They all looked like wax figures except they could move. Well, their bodies could. Their faces looked rather stiff and I couldn't decide whether it was because of Botox or because they just couldn't feel anything.

"Seems like the Finchs aren't here yet so you are allowed to walk around aimlessly until then."

"Terrific." I said sarcastically, grabbed another glass of champagne and drank from that one too. "I suddenly understand why Miriam started drinking." I stated loud enough for Bob to hear before I walked across the room with no particular goal in mind.

"Don't drink too many of those, Helga." Bob said to me. I just waved my hand at him to tell him I had heard him. Whether I followed his order or not I wasn't sure of yet though.

 _At least he's calling me Helga_ , I thought. _But I'm pretty sure that's because Olga would feel right at home at one of these things_. I walked towards the buffet and eyed my selection. My eyes immediately fell on something that resembled a flower-shaped taco and I took it into my eyes, turning it around in my hand. It had small leaves out in the side, but in the middle of it there was some white, pinkish meat in it.

"What are you?" I asked in a low voice, not truly caring if someone heard me talking to something that was hopefully dead. "Seriously, where's the birth certificate?"

I heard a snicker behind me. "I believe those are called crab wonton cups." A male voice said.

I hummed in realization and then frowned. "I don't give a crap how much they want a cup." I joked to myself and put it back down on the platter. The person behind me started to snicker and I turned around to see who had decided to answer my question. My eyes widened at the boy in front of me and I blinked slowly, trying to process. I looked around and tapped an elderly woman on her shoulder. "Excuse me, I'm going to sound insane to you, but do you see that young man over there?" I asked as I pointed at him.

"Blonde hair and wide head?" she asked in a small voice and I nodded. "I do see him."

"Huh." I stated and gave her a smile. I thanked her and immediately grabbed Arnold's arm. I dragged him to the end of the room where there weren't as many people, and looked at him with wild eyes. " _What_ are you doing here?"

"Right this moment, I'm laughing at your crab wants cup joke."

I lifted my hands up as if to strangle him, but composted myself. "You really _are_ stalking me!" I declared a little too loudly. I looked around, but no one heard me over the classic music. "How did you even get in? It's only for people with an invitation."

"Oh, please. You just need to know a few names and they let you in with ease."

"What names would _you_ know here?"

"Well, as of last night Bob Pataki and Henrietta Finch." Arnold told me with a grin as he sipped from his glass of champagne.

"You didn't…" I said in disbelief before I noticed his glass. I looked down in my hand, remembering I was supposed to have been carrying a glass of my own until a moment ago. I looked back at the buffet and saw my glass on the table. "Ugh, I forgot my glass." I stated before I noticed a formal-looking cocktail waitress. "Excuse me."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Miss Pataki, but your father requested that I wouldn't give you any drinks tonight. My apologies." The waitress said and moved on.

"That rotten bastard." I hissed. "How does he expect me to go through this _sober_?" I wondered with a groan and almost considered walking back to the buffet just to get my glass when I saw a glass in front of me. I looked to my side and saw Arnold offering his glass to me with a small smile. I took it somehow meekly, thanked him and drank slowly from it. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just wanted to make sure you didn't charm that George fella too much."

I snorted. "Fat chance. I just need to get him away from his mother. I don't need to _charm_ him - - and why the hell do you care anyway?"

"Don't you know by now?" Arnold asked and his former joking tone was gone.

I looked at him, practically observing him from head to toe. "No, I don't." I told him honestly and looked away again. "You're not as easy to figure out as you think. I have no idea what you really want, so I'm just gonna assume it's still a fight. I'm not fighting you _here_ of all places and not in _this_ dress so just get out already."

"Think about it though." Arnold said as his smile returned. "If Bob caught you in a fistfight with someone at this kind of party, he would never even consider bringing you to one of these things again."

"I can make a fool of myself without you, thank you very much."

"I'm sure you can." Arnold said and I scowled at him. "You'd be killing two birds with one stone though. If you fight me, you'll finally be rid of me. Isn't that what you want?"

Arnold's question bugged me and I had a feeling it showed clearly on my face. For such a long time, or at least that's how it felt, I wanted nothing more than for him to just disappear already. I thought he was rude, offensive, vulgar, bratty, annoying and… interesting. And that part of me that thought he was interesting was clearly greater than the one who thought he was all those other adjectives. If it hadn't been, I wouldn't have followed him home to Gerald's apartment to hear about his parents. So, whether I asked my brain or my heart, my answer differed. I never asked my heart for advice and now I regretted that because I wasn't sure what the hell it was telling me now.

"I won't fight you." I declared without thinking about my words first. Arnold looked at me with slight surprise on his face and I turned my head to look back at him. I didn't know which words I wanted to say, but I could feel them prickling on my tongue. "I don't believe you want to fight me either, but I think you're not sure what the hell you _do_ want."

I wasn't sure why, but I suddenly noticed that Arnold's green eyes were emerald. He was looking so intensely at me, but for once, I didn't feel small in his gaze. I could see admiration in his eyes, but also confusion and frustration. I knew I was right in my assumption; Arnold didn't know what he really wanted either. So, here we were; two dumb blondes who understood each other and themselves so little that they didn't know what to do.

Arnold reached for my glass and I let him take it from me. He then stepped around me, grabbed my hand and pulled me with him. We had been standing at the huge door opening to the hallway separating this party room from another, so I soon found myself pressed against a wall. I was barely hidden from the other guests, but it was enough to feel as if we were alone. Even the music sounded hollow just from going from one wall to another.

"You're right; I don't know what the hell I want or what I'm even doing here." Arnold told me somberly and I felt his grip on my arms tighten. "Lately, it seems like you're all I can think about. How can I annoy Helga today? How can I force her to talk to me? How do I get her attention? Those kind of questions are filling my head and I hate it. I didn't know I could feel this way and I could have lived my entire life happily without finding out."

I hissed when Arnold's grip tightened on my arms. He was frustrated, anyone could see that, but he sure as hell wasn't the only one. "You think this is fun for _me_? Do you have any idea how foolish I feel when I'm around you? I'm so self-conscious that it's making me sick! You think you're the only who is confused here, the only one who has all those questions filled in their head? Get real!" I told him fumingly. "I could easily push you off, I even had the chance to get you out of my life, but didn't take it. Don't you think I want to know why?!"

My mouth stayed agape as I breathed heavily, having to collect myself from trying to contain my voice and yet wanting nothing more than shout at Arnold. I refused to look at anything but his chest and noticed his blue tie for the first time. It suited him, I noted, and I groaned internally for even spotting it. When I felt him step closer to me, I couldn't contain myself and looked up at him. The expression he had on his face had no comparison; it made my heart break and swell all at the same time. My hands landed on his chest and I felt myself lean closer to him. My mind seemed blank as I saw him close his eyes to accept my kiss, but just when I had closed mine as well, they sprung open at the sound of my name.

"Helga! Where are you, young lady?" I could hear Bob call from the party room.

I looked back at Arnold and let my hands fall down from his chest. I couldn't bring myself to look at him, I had just made a fool of myself again. I saw him taking my hand and watched as he lifted it to his mouth and gave it a lingering kiss that sent my heart flying. He gave me a very small smile and pulled at my hand to turn me towards the door opening. He pushed gently at my bare back and I felt myself walk towards my dad who had just seen us.

I wanted to look over my shoulder to see the expression on Arnold's face as I approached my dad, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. "Who is that?" Bob asked me once I had stopped in front of him. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"N-No, he's - - "

"Helga, I don't care what he is. You're allowed to have a few _friends_ or whatever you want me to call him, it's your life so do what you want."

 _Well, that's new_ , I thought.

"But right now I need you to turn up the Pataki charm for me." Bob said and turned his back to me. With a groan, I reached for my champagne glass that Arnold had taken from me earlier. I drank the last of it, put it down and braced myself as I followed my dad towards Henrietta and George Finch. "Mr. and Mrs. Finch. May I present my daughter, Helga Pataki."

 _Oh, look who's all eloquent all of a sudden_. I couldn't help but think as I accepted Henrietta's hand. "It's a pleasure." I lied with my best toothpaste smile and took George's hand. It wasn't until then that I truly looked at either one of them.

Henrietta looked like an aristocrat, with slowly graying hair tied into a tight bun and a dress that seemed almost too formal. Her son, on the other hand, was handsome with his bronze-colored hair, deep brown eyes and a killer smile. He was dressed in a tuxedo that seemed to have been tailored especially for him. Since they were filthy rich, it wasn't unlikely that it was.

"Good evening, Miss Pataki. May I say that you look stunning tonight." George said with a gentle smile. "Of course I don't know how you usually look."

"Oh, trust me. Tonight is special." I told him and felt a small prod from my dad at my thigh. Clearly, that wasn't his idea of Pataki charm, but George was clearly amused by my answer.

"Charming." He stated and looked towards the orchestra. "May I have this dance?"

I choked on nothing at that question. Doing a tango was one thing, but I wasn't very elegant when it came to any other kind of dancing. I almost reclined when Bob offered his hand to Henrietta and asked her to dance as well. Reluctantly, I took George's hand and he led me to the dance floor.

"I must warn you," I said as I whispered in his ear. "I'm a terrible dancer."

"That's hard to believe."

"That's because it's a lie." I admitted. "I'm just not very elegant."

George chuckled once more before he put his hand on my hip. "I'll lead the way then."

"Please do." I told him as I put my free hand on his shoulder and followed him.

"So tell me, Miss Pataki."

"Criminy, call me Helga." I said, annoyed by the sound of my last name.

"Helga," he corrected himself with a smile. "am I correct when I'm assuming that your dad hasn't brought you here just because?"

"Yes, I am here to distract you long enough for him to get your mother to sign a contract." I said and gasped artificially. "Oops, cat's outta the bag."

George chuckled once more. "Distract me, you say?" he asked and smiled somehow dirtily. "How far does he intent you to take it?"

"As far as I'm willing, I assume. As long as he gets his deal he doesn't care what I do."

"Mind over matter then?"

"You could say that." I agreed and looked away from George. Not because I felt uncomfortable, but because I had to think for a moment about why I had busted Bob's plans so easily. I had been tempted by the money, but they didn't seem so important anymore when I noticed Arnold leaning against a wall nearby. He was looking at me with his arms crossed and an almost hurt expression on his face. Seeing him made me realize why I had busted the plan.

"My mother is trying to trick your father as well." George said and pulled me out of my own little world of Arnold.

I had to blink a couple of times as I looked at him before his words sunk in. "Excuse me? _What_? Your mom is…" I said and looked towards Bob and Henrietta as they chatted while they danced. "But she looks so… harmless."

"And that's what makes her dangerous." George pointed out.

It was my time to chuckle. "Criminy… so you've been shanghaied by a money-hungry parent as well?"

"Why do you think I asked you to dance?"

"Because of my undeniable charm?" I asked sarcastically and laughed with him. "You're here to distract me as well. I guess it's moot to keep dancing then."

"Agreed. Let us finish this song though to mollify our parents."

" _Mollify_?" I repeated. "Well, I guess a pompous vocabulary is needed as a lawyer."

"It does help to gain respect in court."

"I bet." I agreed and looked towards Arnold again, but he was gone. I looked around, almost alarmed, and felt myself stop dancing. "Where did - - "

"Is something the matter?" George asked and let go of me.

I sighed in surrender and gave him an apologizing smile. "I'm sorry… but I think I'll leave now." I told him and before he could answer, I pulled my dress up a little bit to avoid stepping on it and ran out of the room. I ran through the hallway, looking for Arnold, but not daring to call his name. Once I was outside, I noticed that the rain was pouring just like last night. I looked around, but couldn't see him anywhere. It was too dark.

"Miss Pataki!" I heard George call. I turned around and was immediately covered by an umbrella. "Are you alright?"

"I…" I started, but didn't know how to answer his question.

"I will be leaving as well. My mission here, like you called it, is moot. Would you like me to drive you home? I don't believe our parents will be finished with their negotiations anytime soon." George offered and held his hand out to me.

Arnold's face immediately jumped to my mind. I wondered how he would feel if he saw me sitting inside George's car in case he came back or if we drove by him. "I… I'm sorry. That's kind of you, but I really don't think - - "

"It's no trouble at all." George insisted and tried to offer me his arm, but I stepped back.

"No, that's not why - - "

"Hey!" I heard a familiar voice shout and I looked towards it. I couldn't help but smile despite how angry Arnold looked as he approached us. He put his arm around my waist and glared at George. "She said no."

George looked between us before he smiled. "My apologies. I misunderstood why you wanted to go home." He said kindly and bowed his head to me. He did the same to Arnold before he walked back inside and I felt the rain drizzle down on my bare shoulders because the umbrella disappeared.

As soon as I had shivered, Arnold pulled his coat off his arms and put it over my head, adjusting it so my shoulders were covered as well. "I don't have an umbrella." He said matter-of-factly, but something in his face told me that he wished he could cover me properly. I couldn't help but smile at him and it seemed to surprise him. I wasn't sure what kind of smile I had shown him, but he yanked me closer to him by his own coat and kissed me sweetly. Once he let go, I was breathless. "I hated seeing you dancing with him… I think that's called jealousy."

My eyes traveled all around Arnold's face, studying every detail of it. I put my hands on his cheeks and kept looking at him for a bit before pulling him into a kiss. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and held my head to keep the coat over me. I couldn't help but think how sweet he was. Caring about something so trivial and let himself get wet for me. It was such a silly little thing, but at that moment, it meant the world to me.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: If you want to see Helga's dress you can write to me on deviantArt or YouTube to get the link!**

 **I want to address a review in this author's note by X59. This reviewer asked why Gerald was living in an apartment and questioned why he didn't go to school with the others. I didn't think that people would think too much of it since he's a minor character in this story, but I'll answer anyway.**

 **Gerald and Arnold didn't go to the same middle school and so on with the others. There's no specific reason why they didn't go at the same place (and still don't) it was merely for the sake of Arnold and Helga not already knowing each other. The reason why he is living in an apartment though is a nod at the episode "Gerald moves out". I always imagined that, despite him moving back with his parents, that he would probably move out pretty early. The reason he moved back to begin with was because he hadn't realized how hard it was to live by himself, but I've always imagined that he would still move out rather early, at least in comparison to his peers.**

 **X59 also said they were wondering if they were going to college because of that, but like Helga says in the first chapter, she is 16-years-old so no, they are not in college. They are in high school :3**

 **I hope that cleared some things up for others who might have been confused! Cx**


	6. One way or another

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Bad behavior"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **When Helga was in the middle of doing her homework, Arnold decided to pay her a surprise visit. They were interrupted when Bob came to Helga's room and while Arnold was hiding, Bob told her he wanted her to accompany him to the annual Hillwood Buffet in order to distract the son of a potential business associate of his.**_

 _ **At the party, Arnold showed up as well. The two blondes started discussing their relationship or lack thereof and started to understand the other a little more. Bob's business associate turned out to be just as cunning as he was so Helga left the party early since she realized she was the victim of her victim. Outside in the pouring rain, Arnold admitted that he was jealous of her dancing with another boy.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I don't know what to say, yadda-yadda-enjoy! Cx**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 6: "One way or another"

I was staring at my radio, switching between smiling and frowning as I listened to the song the station was currently playing. Despite my occasional smile, the song annoyed me more than anything else. Why does it always seem like the radio knows _exactly_ what to play at the _exact_ moment? I was tapping my fingers, frowning once more as I heard Queen singing that same sentence for the hundredth time before I finally decided to turn it off.

"Crazy little thing is right… I'm not so sure about the love though." I told myself before turning around and using my arms as a pillow. _How the hell am I supposed to know anyway?_ I wondered. _It's not like I have any experience… not with myself or by seeing it. I think the last time I saw my parents kiss was at their freaking wedding. People say you'll just know, but it's not that fucking simple! Or maybe I just don't fit into those boxes. Arnold sure as hell doesn't, he's as confused as I am. We're never getting anywhere just circling around each other like this…_

I looked towards my phone on my nightstand, chewing on my lower lip. _She did say I could call her whenever…_ I thought as I sat up on my knees and reached for my cell. I sat down on my legs as I quickly found the number I was looking for, checked the time one last time and then decided it wasn't so late that she was already in bed. I waited about five seconds before I heard the familiar, soothing voice.

"Helga? Is that you? How have you been? Are you alright?"

"Yes, Dr. Bliss, I'm fine. Sorta…"

"You're ringing for a reason, I suppose. Do you want to talk about it over the phone?"

"I think I'd keep you up all night if I did. Could we meet up… soon?"

"Must be serious if you're that eager."

"I'm not - - "

"I'm just teasing you, Helga. I have the day off tomorrow. How about we meet up at Slausen's?"

"Slausen's? You eat ice cream?"

"Is that such a surprise?"

"Kinda… and yet not. Sorry. Sure, I'll meet you there at what time?"

"How about 12pm?"

"Typical early birds."

" _Early_?"

I couldn't help but chuckle at the woman's shocked voice, I could even imagine the expression on her face. "Thanks a lot, Dr. Bliss. I'll see you tomorrow then." I told her and once she had said goodbye I hung up. I fell down on my bed, sprawling on it unceremoniously as I prayed that Dr. Bliss could shine some light on this tunnel of maybe-love.

* * *

After getting my extra-large triple chocolate shake with two cherries and lots of whip cream I sat down in a booth across Dr. Bliss. It had been a while since I last saw my child psychologist, mainly because I wasn't a child anymore. That being said, once I was officially too old to go to the sessions, she said I could call her anytime. It was perhaps considered unprofessional, but she had taken a particular shine to me. She had admitted that to my parents once. Not that they cared, they just wanted to make sure it wouldn't cost them anything.

Dr. Bliss looked like herself, except for a few more wrinkles maybe. She still had her short, dark brown hair and purple was still her favorite color if the fact that her pencil skirt and coat were in two different shades of purple was anything to go by. She was drinking black coffee and just used her spoon to put some of her vanilla ice cream in it. I quirked an eyebrow at the sight, but decided not to question her ways.

"So, Helga. What's new in your life?"

"Nothing much." I answered out of pure self-defense. I sighed as soon as she gave me one of her looks. "So… I've kinda, um… met someone."

That clearly got Dr. Bliss' attention. "As in a young man?"

"No, as in an older woman." I countered and gave her an apologetic look right after. "Yes, a boy around my age."

"I see. Well, how did you two meet?" Dr. Bliss asked and tangled her fingers together, which I noticed many years ago was a habit of hers when she truly wanted to listen. Not just out of obligation.

"His name is Arnold and… I kinda, sorta, somehow saved him from some guys who were beating him up. When they were gone though, he told me I should have minded my own business so I got pissed and hit him. I forgot my backpack there though and then he showed up at my school and demanded that I fight him because he wanted a rematch or whatever. Teachers broke us up, but he waited for me after school. And since then we've basically had this weird, semi-friendship that mostly resembles rivals and I'm so confused because we've also kissed too many times to count!"

Dr. Bliss blinked, slowly processing all the information I had just given her. I almost ran out of patience when she finally spoke. "So… what you want to talk about… is how come this guy is not out of your life yet? Since you're sure you don't have feelings for him?"

"I'm not sure about _anything_ , doc! He makes me want to hit him, but when he kisses me, I _let_ him. I mean, what is up with that?!" I asked a little too loudly, but ignored the people sending us curious stares. "Am I getting bipolar or something?"

Dr. Bliss chuckled at my question. "No, Helga. You are simply experiencing new emotions and that's scary for everyone."

"But why _now_? And why _him_? I mean, I've _never_ even considered getting a crush on someone - - "

"Love isn't something you can plan."

"Obviously or else I wouldn't be in this mess." I argued and leaned back. "How do I know?"

"Know?"

"Yeah! Whether I actually like him or if I'm just curious about him."

"Well, curiosity can often lead to something bigger." Dr. Bliss insisted with that professional tone of voice I hated and loved all the same.

"Please don't talk in riddles, doc… I need a clear answer."

"I can't give you a clear answer just yet, Helga. Also, what would we do for the rest of the day if I did?" she joked and I gave her a crooked smile. "Helga, I believe you need to describe Arnold a little more to me. I don't know him after all so tell me everything you're willing to tell me."

"Ok… he's blonde, kinda short, I mean, he's like a couple inches shorter than me. He's stubborn like me, violent like me, has serious issues - - "

"Like you?"

"Uh-huh." I admitted with a slanted look. "He's, uh… He's also romantic. He actually gave me a pink rose at my party… which he crashed, but the sentiment was good enough."

"I see. Where is that rose now?"

"Uh, I… I'm actually pressing it. Why?"

"No reason." Dr. Bliss insisted with one of her knowing smiles that I definitely hated. "Continue."

I wanted to ask her why she had been smirking like that, but decided to let it go. "He… also insists that he's a gentleman though everything he's done so far suggests otherwise."

"Everything?"

"Well… he's kinda forceful when he's… you know, kissing me." I told her, but hesitated. "And yet not really… It's like, the way he looks at me is gentle, but his body is forceful. Does that make sense?"

"I think I know what you mean. What else?"

"Um… he's secretive, also like me, but when I threatened to kick him out of my life once and for all, he offered to tell me about his past and how he ended up living with his friend instead of his parents."

"And what was his story then?"

"His parents died. It's a long, complicated story and I didn't really understand it. But they kinda left him to help someone else and died in the process. He was raised by his grandparents, but… I think when he found out his parents were dead, he… he ran away… maybe. He actually never went into detail with that part."

"I see… how did you react when he told you all this?"

"It… broke my heart, honestly." I confessed, but then frowned. "That doesn't mean I care about him though!"

"I don't know, Helga. You're not the kind of person to worry about others if you don't care for them."

"Ok, so I'm not indifferent to him. Does that automatically mean that I love him?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then say it! Is it so hard just to say it to me directly?"

"I can't tell you directly, Helga. I need more details first of all." Dr. Bliss insisted, but didn't continue. Something told me she wasn't planning to give me a straight answer, but I didn't call her out on it. "Can you tell me more about him?"

"Honestly, no… except that he's smart as hell. He's good at math and he managed to sneak into the Hillwood Buffet without an invitation."

"Interesting. Why was he there?"

"I think he's stalking me." I responded honestly.

"Stalking even?"

"Well, he keeps showing up at my school, comes to my house whenever he fucking pleases and followed me to the Hillwood Buffet after finding out that my dad was taking me."

"Sounds like stalking… to a certain degree."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, has he been going to your social media? Left uncomfortable gifts at your doorstep? Harassed you?"

"Does sexual harassment count?"

"Yes, but not if he has your consent."

"He does not have my - - " I started, but then scowled at myself. "But he doesn't _not_ have it… I don't know! I wanna kill him, but I also wanna kiss him!"

"So we can assume it's a love-hate relationship."

"A clear answer, doc? I'm astonished."

"We're not done yet."

"Of course not." I muttered with a sigh and decided to start digging into my shake. I needed something to distract my mouth for a moment.

"Helga, have your friends met Arnold?"

"What does that - - " I said before I swallowed properly. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just humor me."

"Well… Arnold actually turns out to be the best friend of Phoebe's boyfriend."

"That's quite a coincidence."

"She was totally freaked out when she found out. Gerald has been telling her that his best friend was having serious issues and he didn't want her to meet him until he was sure that Arnold was ok, but now she's already met him so…"

"And what does she think of Arnold?"

"Well… we haven't really talked about it as such. I mean, I think the girls are kinda rooting for us, me, whatever. Patty seems pretty sure that Arnold's interest in me is genuine and insists that I like him too."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm here! Are you not listening?" I asked her in frustration. She sent me one of her pointed looks and I made myself smaller. "Sorry…"

"Helga… would it be horrible… if you liked this guy?"

"What?"

"Do you think it's the end of the world to fall in love with someone?" Dr. Bliss elaborated.

"Of course it is! Love makes everything complicated and people do stupid shit because of it! Miriam left everything behind for Bob who is a complete asshole to her and now she's an alcoholic. Olga almost married a complete fraud and was ready to become a _housewife_ for him! Curly has been in love with Rhonda since we were kids, but she won't even look in his direction! Seems to me like love sucks!"

"I admit, love isn't easy."

"Thank you."

"But your examples are only a few in a million. A lot of people find happiness when they are in love."

I crossed my arms. "Yeah, fairytale characters."

Dr. Bliss sighed and seemed to question her next words. "Helga, have I told you about my husband?"

"You're _married_?"

"So no."

"Nu-uh."

"Well, I am."

"Ok… what does that have to do with this?"

"I think perhaps my story will help you see that love can sometimes concur all." She said. I arched an eyebrow at her words, but leaned forward to tell her I wanted to listen anyway. "My husband and I got married about 25 years ago. We were happy, were planning to have children and the whole nine yards… When we tried to get pregnant though, we found out that he was sterile. Everyone told me to leave him, including himself. He said he didn't want to rob me of the chance to have children."

"Did you leave him?"

Dr. Bliss shook her head. "I realized that I cared more about him than a child I hadn't even met."

"But… you wanted children! Was he really worth giving up that?"

"I didn't think so at first. I was devastated when I found out that we could never have children… but the thought of leaving him hurt me more." Dr. Bliss told me and showed me her palm. I let her take my hand reluctantly and she caressed it. "To me, it wasn't such a hard thing to give up once I realized that I wanted him more."

"I don't think I agree with your decision." I told her bluntly. "If you wanted to have children then he shouldn't have let you stay with him. He should have forced you to find happiness with someone else who could give you everything you wanted, not just some of it."

"Sounds greedy when you put it like that." Dr. Bliss said with a kind smile. "I understand why you're saying that though. It can seem pretty scary to give up everything for someone you love."

"No… this isn't just about fear anymore, I think it's _wrong_. Why should you have to settle?"

"I'm not settling - - "

"How are you _not_ settling? You could have fallen in love with someone else, it happens all the time! You could have been just as happy if not more with someone else. How do you know you made the right choice?"

"I don't _know_ , Helga, but if I could turn back time I wouldn't change a thing."

"You're kidding… not even if you could change it so you never even met him?"

"I would hate it if I hadn't met him."

"You don't know that! You wouldn't know what you were missing if you had never met him. You could have found happiness with someone else. I don't want to judge you, but your example doesn't make me feel less revolted by the thought of love! Why do you have to give up on things to gain something else?"

"You don't always have to do that, Helga. _I_ did, but not everyone has to. What would you have to give up if you gave Arnold a chance?"

"My dignity, my heart, my self-respect, my need to understand what I'm feeling, my image as a girl who doesn't let stupid, trivial things affect her."

"All those things seem important to you now, but maybe you'll see that being vulnerable isn't as bad as you think."

"Oh, please. Who wants to be vulnerable?"

"If you're not vulnerable you can't feel anything."

"Seems a hell of a lot easier." I insisted and looked away. Dr. Bliss and I didn't always see eye to eye, but I really couldn't understand her decision to stay with her husband. I wouldn't have given up the dream of being a mother for some guy when there were plenty out there to take.

"Helga," Dr. Bliss said and grabbed my hand again. "if you're not willing to change - - "

"I'm _not_."

"Then don't."

"Wait. What? You _just_ said - - "

"I _said_ that if the guy is more important to you than what you have to give up to be with him, you should change. If anything else is more important, he's just going to have to do some soul-searching himself."

"And figure out if he's willing to take me as I am?"

"Exactly."

"Well then, doc. I can tell you this; I _won't_ change for anyone." I said with determination and I was 100% sincere. "If Arnold wants me, he has to take me as I am."

Dr. Bliss smiled broadly. "Atta girl, Helga."

"What? I didn't think you'd applaud this decision."

"Helga, you're a strong girl. You shouldn't have to change for anyone. You have your whole life ahead of you. Who knows? Maybe this Arnold guy don't want you to change at all."

"He'd better not." I insisted with a smirk. "I don't understand though… how come you were willing to give up so much and yet you're telling me not to do the same?"

"You and I are different people, Helga."

"No arguments there."

"And I may have left out a small detail in my story."

"Oh, boy… what?"

"We adopted." Dr. Bliss confessed. "After I decided to stay with him, he told me that we should adopt."

"So you have a child?" I asked in slight surprise. "This is the first I've heard of that! How old?"

"She's about 20-years-old at this point."

"20?! Criminy, why have you never told me that you have a daughter that age?"

"We have met to talk about you, Helga."

"I… I guess…" I admitted and sighed. I smiled at her. "So you got what you wanted in the end."

"I never said I gave everything up." Dr. Bliss said as she grabbed her cup. She blew on her coffee for a moment and I watched her curiously. I wasn't sure what part of our conversation that had made it so, but I suddenly had even more respect for Dr. Bliss. She was willing to give up everything for the man she loved and yet she managed to make both her dreams come true. While we continued to talk more casually, I wondered if I could have it all as well.

* * *

" _Crazy little thing called love_ …" I sang to myself as I walked down the street and looked up into the sky. It was getting dark, or rather orange, and I wondered how many hours I had actually spent with my former psychiatrist. I yawned while wondering if Bob and Miriam had come home from… whatever they said they were going today, I wasn't really listening.

I was scratching my head when I saw my house in the distance, but there was something different about it. I squinted my eyes, wondering why people did that to begin with, and tried to see what that bright-looking thing in front of my door was. It wasn't until I was in front of my fence that I could actually see what it was.

"Arnold?!" I bellowed in surprise and he looked up at me. The sight was much too familiar; his lip was split once again and he had a bruise on his left cheek. I jumped over my fence, too anxious to get to him to bother opening it, and ran to him. I crouched in front of him and lifted his head to make him look at me, which made him wince. "What happened to you?"

"Uh… Gerald and I had a fight."

"Gerald did this?!"

"No… no. Uh… we had a fight so I left his apartment and I… ran into some old buddies."

" _Buddies_?" I repeated in disbelief, but I shook my head, not caring about the details of what had happened. "Come on, put your arm over my shoulders."

Arnold obeyed me easily and I helped him inside my house with little trouble. His legs seemed a little wobbly, but he could mostly walk on his own. I carried him up and into my room, listening for any signs of Bob and Miriam, but there were none. Once I had put him down on the floor, I told him I'd get the first aid kit and left him there.

Despite the CPR lessons I had taken in the past before getting my driver's license, I had never attended medically to anyone before, so when I came back to my room, I looked around in the first aid kit clumsily. I wasn't even sure what to grab before I looked at Arnold again and remembered the split lip.

"This is gonna sting." I told him before I grabbed an antiseptic wipe and dubbed it on his lower lip. He hisses instantly and pulled away, but I grabbed him by his shoulder and moved to straddle him to keep him in place. "I warned you."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Gerald's actually more gentle than you are." Arnold told me with a frown, but stayed put under me.

"No surprise there. He's your friend and I'm not." I countered and threw the wipe in the trashcan. I looked through the first aid kit again and found something called hydrocortisone ointment packets. _If I remember correctly, you are supposed to moisturize it…_ I thought. I wasn't sure what I was doing at all, but I grabbed a packet anyway and dubbed Arnold's lip. He clenched his eyes, but didn't move away this time.

"And what are you then? You're not my friend, but you helped me the second you saw me without hesitation." Arnold said and attempted to smirk, but hissed in pain instead.

After removing the blood from Arnold's temple, I grabbed a gauze pad and put it over the cut. "That's what I've been wondering myself lately." I admitted and looked him over. "Ok… anything external is taken care of. If you have internal bleedings though I can't do anything."

"I'm fine. The guys who attacked me are idiots so I got out of there pretty quickly."

"Yeah, speaking of which; you called them old buddies. You knew them?" I asked and sat down, suddenly remembering that I was on his lap. I was about to move away when he put his hands on my thighs, but I wasn't sure if he was asking me to stay or if he had just put them there casually.

"I've known them since middle school. Or I've known Wolfgang since then, his minions come and go."

"Wolfgang? Who the hell names their kid Wolfgang? What's his middle name; Amadeus?"

"Trust me, Wolfgang wouldn't be able to hit a note with anything else but a fist." Arnold said jokingly and gave a very small smile. "He's kinda been bullying everyone in my class for as long as I can remember, but he's more after me now than anyone else."

"Why? Is he not completely charmed by the enigma that is Arnold Phillip Shortman?"

"When did you - - "

"Oh, please. Phoebe has known your full name since Gerald told her about you. Of course she told me after Gerald told her you were one and the same."

Arnold huffed as if one of his secrets had just been revealed. "He's more after me because… well… since my parents died, I… I kinda started to stand up to him a little more than I used to."

"Oh, you challenged the monkey king then?"

Arnold snickered. "Something like that." He confessed. "I made myself really unpopular so… yeah."

I bit on my lower lip for a moment, wondering if I really wanted to ask Arnold this question or not. I decided I had nothing to lose. "Is that why you haven't been to school for a long time?" I asked somehow sourly, but mostly with worry. The bruised boy looked away, hesitating. I put my thumb and index-finger on his chin though and forced him to look at me. "Answer or I'll kick you out."

"You drive a hard bargain, Miss Pataki." Arnold said with a small smile. "Well, Wolfgang's part of it… but mostly school just seemed so… unmanageable all of a sudden."

"How come you haven't been expelled yet?"

"Gerald is vouching for me. Also, the teachers are really understandable."

"When is the last time you went to school?"

Arnold thought about it for a moment. "Last day before summer I think."

"Before summer?!" I repeated. "Arnold, it's fall now. Your teachers won't keep being understanding, you know."

"Yeah, I know."

"So what's your plan?" I asked and noticed that I still had my fingers on his chin. I moved them away and was about to lift myself off his lap completely, but he grabbed my wrists and made me stay put.

"I don't have much of a plan anymore." He told me. "I barely remember what my plans were before I found out about my parents. I don't remember my dreams or what I wanted to do with my life. That must sound really strange. I mean, it's not like my life changed. Whether my parents are dead or a million miles away doesn't make much of a difference, does it?"

 _It does make a difference_ , I thought before I leaned forward without thinking and planted my lips on his. I could feel him flinch. I had clearly taken him by surprise, I realized that when his grip on my wrists loosened. When I ended the kiss I looked at him solemnly, wondering how it was possible that I could write sentence after sentence in a poem, but not come up with one soothing word to say right now.

"Was that a pity kiss?" Arnold asked with glazed eyes.

"No, I - - "

"I don't care if it was." Arnold told me before he grabbed me by my hips and leaned up to kiss me again. I gasped for a short second, but accepted his kiss easily. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed myself closer to him before I crinkled my nose and pulled back.

"I'm sorry, I can't." I told him and tried to hide my smile behind my hand. "The antiseptic stinks."

Arnold made a mix of a groan and a laugh as he let his head fall backwards until it was resting on my bed. "You're a mean one, Miss Pataki…" he said, but I could see the hidden smile on his face.

I gave a small chuckle before I reached my hand out for him and put it on his cheek. I could feel him breathe slowly before leaning into my touch. He looked so completely vulnerable and it made me more confident in myself somehow. I caressed his cheek lazily, watching him as he seemed to be completely relaxed in my touch. He resembled a cat, I noticed; that sound of content he was making was almost like a purr.

I hated to ruin the sweet moment, but I knew that I had to ask Arnold this question sooner or later. "What were you and Gerald fighting about?"

Arnold opened his eyes abruptly as if he had been asleep. "What?" he questioned and I wondered if he really was that tired. I repeated the question and he sighed. "He's just… trying to help me and I forget that when I'm angry."

"Oh…" I said and let my hand fall away from Arnold's cheek and I could have sworn that he almost whimpered from the loss. "Well… do you want me to take you home to him or something?"

Arnold snorted. "I don't think I'm welcome there right now."

"Then what are you going to do?"

Arnold shrugged. "I'll, uh… figure something out." He said sheepishly and looked away.

"… I'm not letting you sleep on the streets." I said with determination in my voice. The mere imagery broke my heart.

"I don't have any other choice. Gerald's my only friend at this point."

"You could go home?" I suggested lamely, but he look he sent me told me I shouldn't have suggested that. He didn't even dignify my idea with a response. "Then… do you really plan to sleep wherever?"

"I've done it before, Helga. Gerald will forgive me eventually and find me."

I frowned deeply at that information. I couldn't believe that Gerald would actually kick his best friend out of his home to leave him on the streets. I could imagine dealing with someone like Arnold was a pain, but they had known each other since they were in diapers for crying out loud. It wasn't like Arnold had been mooching on him for years or something; their situation wasn't anything like Alan and Charlie in Two and a half men.

"What is this?" Arnold asked almost curiously and when I looked at him, I noticed that he was smiling smugly. "Are you worried about me?"

My eyebrows knitted together in annoyance. "Do you wanna gloat or a place to spend the night?" I asked him and my suggestion took Arnold by shock, anyone could see that. His green eyes were wide and I could see the white all around the irises. Then he frowned though.

"I'm not sure if I can…"

"What the hell does that mean? Your alternative is sleeping with the hobos; is my suggestion that awful?"

"N-No, that's not why…" Arnold insisted and looked away. I observed him for what felt like forever before I noticed a tint of red on his face. At first, I thought it was because he had been hurt, but then I realized that he was blushing. Arnold, the bad boy always looking for a fight was _blushing_ and it caused me to blush as well as I realized the reason behind it.

"You claim to be a gentleman," I said and stood up from his lap. "so prove it tonight."

Arnold looked up at me as I offered him my hand. With a smile, he took it and hoisted himself up with little trouble. "Where would I sleep though? And what about your parents?"

"They won't notice you as long as you stay in my room."

"So… I'll be sleeping with you?"

"Not _with_ me, just…" I said and felt my cheeks flare again. I urged my blush to disappear as I slapped his hand away from my own and crossed my arms. "There are no other options. Bob sure as hell wouldn't let you stay if he knew. If you don't behave I'll make you sleep on the floor. Let's go get something to eat."

I turned my back to Arnold and reached for the doorknob, but froze when I heard him speak. "So, you're gonna let me sleep in your bed?" he asked. I could hear him walk behind me and I barely managed to keep my composure and open the door for him before he had already reached it. "You're really putting the gentleman inside me to the test."

Those words were filled with promise, but of what I wasn't quite sure yet. All I knew was that this was going to be a long night. One way or another.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: This was in fact** _ **not**_ **how I had envisioned this scene, something else entirely had supposed to happen, but I suddenly got this idea so I followed through it xD My other idea will have to wait for another chapter! :P**


	7. What an antagonist

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Bad behavior"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **After wondering what exactly she felt for the blonde boy, Helga decided that she couldn't figure it out for herself and called Dr. Bliss, her old child psychologist. A long conversation with her made Helga realize a few things; she didn't want Arnold out of her life, but she wasn't willing to change for him either.**_

 _ **When Helga came home, Arnold was waiting for her at her stoop. He was bruised and she took care of him in her room. Once he had explained that he'd had a fight with Gerald, had gotten kicked out and then met some old enemies from his school, Helga decided that she couldn't let him spend the night in the streets.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: Still don't know what to say! Enjoy Cx**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 7: "What an antagonist"

"Where are your parents?" Arnold asked me curiously as he took another slice of the pizza.

"Don't know."

"They just left?"

"No, I just didn't listen." I replied honestly and leaned back in the couch to drink from my Yahoo soda. "They are probably out with some make-believe friends."

"Make-believe?"

"Yeah, you know, people that used to be actual friends, but now just are it for show to help my parents look social and normal."

"Sounds like you grew up in an interesting home." Arnold stated as he leaned back in the couch as well, which caused it to jump behind me.

I looked at him. "Interesting is an interesting choice of word." I teased. "This place is hell on earth most of the time."

"Why don't you move out?"

"I'm 16." I answered honestly.

"Gerald's moved out."

"I also don't have the money for it and Bob sure as hell ain't gonna help me." I told him before swallowing the last piece of my pizza. "I'll clean up."

I reached for our plates, but Arnold beat me to it. "Nah, I'll do it." he said before grabbing the places, stacked them and carried them on his left arm.

"That's an interesting way to carry it." I stated while Arnold grabbed our glasses as well and put them on the plates, which left his right hand free. "Does your right hand have the day off or something?"

Arnold just laughed at my joke as he walked out of the living room and directly into the kitchen. I had been joking, but his lack of response made me suspicious. _Now that I think about it… he doesn't use his right hand as much as the left one. Maybe he's just left-handed, but… no. It's definitely weird to stack everything on one arm, isn't it?_ I thought and hummed. I tried to remember the times Arnold had grabbed me, mostly back when he had almost make me fall because he had grabbed my backpack. _His left arm… was what held me up_ , I realized when the image flashed in my memory. _He didn't use his right arm at all_.

A crash from the kitchen forced me out of my thoughts and I jumped off the couch. "Arnold, what happened?" I asked before I entered the kitchen and saw the plates in pieces on the floor. I looked up at Arnold and he looked back at me.

"I-I'm sorry." He said and crouched.

I observed Arnold as he picked up the porcelain pieces one by one. With his left hand. "Why aren't you using your right hand?" I asked before I grabbed a nearby broom and swept his hand away. He didn't reply so I started sweeping the porcelain into a big pile.

"I'm left-handed." Arnold said lamely before he offered me the dustpan. Somehow, the fact that he was using his left hand to do that was all I noticed.

"That doesn't mean that your right hand shouldn't function." I argued, took the dustpan and collected the porcelain pieces on it. Once they were in the trashcan, I looked at Arnold again and noticed that he almost seemed to be hiding his right arm from me. Then I remembered something else; I had never actually seen his skin. He always wore long sleeves, be it a dress shirt or his leather jacket. Before he could react, I reached for his wrist and grabbed it with both hands.

"Helga, don't - - " Arnold warned angrily, but I had already pushed his sleeve up his arm.

I gasped at the sight of Arnold's cream-colored skin, covered in long scars that seemed to circle around his wrist and continue all the way up his arm and beneath the sleeve. I looked up at him, but he refused to meet my gaze. Apprehensively, I grabbed the shoulders of his jacket and pulled it off his arms. He didn't fight me even when I pushed his t-shirt up over his shoulder to see that the scars stopped at his shoulder blades.

"Who… did this to you?" I asked, but Arnold didn't seem to be listening. I slapped him very gently on his cheek and let my hand stay there when he finally looked at me. "I asked who did this to you?"

"Nobody." He replied with the coldest stare I had seen him make so far. "I was in an… accident after Eduardo told me my parents died."

"Accident?" I repeated. I didn't like the way Arnold had said the word. Something seemed way off and I made a long, low gasp when the meaning struck me. "You tried to kill yourself."

Arnold tensed at my words and he wiggled out of my grasp. He took a couple of steps and disappeared out of my sight. I was staring at nothing, the information hitting much harder than I would like to admit. The image of Arnold trying to kill himself flashed before my eyes and all I could hear were random screams from anyone who had seen him. I wanted to ask him what had happened, but he started talking himself.

"The first thing I did when Eduardo said that my parents were dead… was to run out of the house. I just kept running without knowing where to go and before I knew it, I… was looking at the Hillwood highway." Arnold told me in a voice I couldn't describe. He sounded broken, but he didn't stutter. I turned around to look at his back and touched it to encourage him to continue. "I just… stood there for a really long time I think. I don't know what I was thinking, I probably wasn't thinking anything at all when I… started walking."

My forehead landed on Arnold's shoulder and I could feel him make a small flinch of surprise. I had never struggled this hard in my life to keep my feelings at bay. I could feel myself shaking and my breath was ragged as I listened to his story. Arnold didn't remember anything from after he had been hit by a car and he woke up at Drymon Medical Clinic a week later. Although the surgery had been successful, the right half of his body functioned abnormally. The doctors had told him that complete recovery was impossible, but after rehabilitation he restored function in his right leg. He had yet to recover grip in his right hand though.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked Arnold once his story was finished. I didn't know why, but I was so angry. Not at him, but at everything; at his parents for leaving, at Eduardo for telling him they were dead, at the motorists for not seeing him, _everything_.

"What would change if I talked about it?" Arnold asked and I heard him make an angry hiss. "Why should I sit around and complain about it?! Would that change anything? No! I'll never get over it if all I do is think and talk about it all the fucking time!"

I couldn't stand listening to Arnold anymore, so I grabbed him by his shoulders, turned him around and wrapped my arms around his neck. He buried his face in my hair and I could feel his tears run down my neck. His entire body was shivering and he was weeping while he almost squeezed the life out of me, but I just held him tightly. Once again, I found myself empty of words and I didn't know what else to do than what I was already doing.

I just felt so helpless even when Arnold's sobs seemed to come to an end and he leaned a little bit away from me. His face was tear-stained and I wondered just how much he had cried while he reached for a paper towel. He put it against my neck and as I felt the wetness disappear, I realized just how much he had indeed cried.

I considered grabbing a paper towel myself, but made do with my own hands as I wiped Arnold's cheeks gently. He closed his eyes, seemingly embarrassed at my action, but didn't do anything to stop me. Once I was satisfied, I tangled my fingers behind his neck and kissed his cheek adoringly. It was incredibly easy to show affection all of a sudden; I wasn't sure if it was because of the conversation with Dr. Bliss today or if it was because he seemed to need it more than ever, but my heart wasn't beating in an uncomfortable pace when he was close to me anymore. My heart seemed more content somehow.

I'm not sure which one of us started it, but suddenly I felt Arnold's lips against my own. The scent from the antiseptic was gone and was replaced with Yahoo soda and pizza. I couldn't think of a more delicious taste in this moment. I could feel his hands travel down my back, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind them until he reached my thighs. I noticed that he used his left hand to hoist me up while his right hand kept me steady against him.

The thought of Arnold dropping me, as he walked with me through the kitchen and up the stairs, never crossed my mind. I was too engrossed in the feeling of his tongue against mine and the way his masculine body felt against my own athletic, yet female one. It wasn't until I felt the comfort of my own mattress on my back that I realized Arnold had managed to carry me all the way to my room. I noticed for a mere second that he had managed to close the door behind us, but my eyes traveled back to him the moment he removed a lock of hair from my forehead.

I couldn't help but smile in disbelief; he was such an unexpected surprise in my life. His hands caressed my hips while my fingers made shapeless movements on the back of his right hand. His nose nuzzled against mine and one of my legs ran up his side. The sharp intake of breath he made caused me to chuckle mercilessly as I repeated the action.

Arnold had just started kissing me below my ear when we heard a noise outside. Arnold seemed ready to jump out of the window, but I put a soothing hand on his arm and he stayed put above me. I could feel his right arm start to shake and I pulled him back down so he didn't have to put his weight on it. We listened for a bit and then I recognized my parents' voices. I groaned and let my head fall back on my pillow.

"The surest way to ruin the mood…" I muttered quietly. I wasn't sure what Arnold was thinking because I had closed my eyes. The embarrassment I should probably have felt while we were amid the passion suddenly came crashing down on me and I put my arms over my face to hide the inevitable blush. I kept listening to my parents outside when I noticed some sounds I had heard before, but were very rare. "Criminy… the one day a year they do that they decide to make today."

"Are they gonna…?"

"Oh, yeah." I replied.

Arnold groaned and rolled off me, landing clumsily next to me on my bed. I removed my arms and stared at my ceiling for a bit before turning my head to look at him. He looked back at me and then we broke down laughing. I tried to hush him, but he had a hard time holding his laughter down while I was capable of just snickering. I put my hands on his cheeks, silently pleading with him to keep quiet so Bob and Miriam didn't hear us. He put his hands over mine and slowly silenced his laughter. His shoulders kept shaking though and I shook my head in disbelief of the situation. I would never have thought I'd find myself in a typical teenage girl situation; hiding a guy in my bed.

I sighed. "I guess we should just go to sleep then." I said somehow lamely and get out of the bed.

Arnold was quiet while I headed for my closet and I quickly contemplated how to change my clothes to avoid showing too much skin. We may have just been about to cross a big border, but the passion had died now and I felt awkward once again. I slipped my cardigan off my arms and moved my hands behind me to unhook my bra underneath my tank top. I slipped the bra off me without removing the tank top and looked at Arnold over my shoulder.

"Impressive."

I rolled my eyes at Arnold's comment before deciding to just take my pants off casually and putting them on the chair along with my cardigan. _Tank top and panties_ , I thought. _I can deal with that_.

I walked back to Arnold and noticed that he had taken off his t-shirt and pants and had put them over the board of my bed. He was completely covered up by the duvet and he almost seemed a little shy, which made it so much easier for me to slip under the covers casually. I stared at the ceiling for a bit before I started laughing awkwardly. He started laughing as well and slapped his hand over his own face.

"I tried to be all cool, but…"

"Me too." I admitted and we looked at each other. "I've never been in a situation that even remotely resembles this."

"If it helps, neither have I."

"It does, thank you." I admitted bluntly and he waved his hand at me as if he was insulted, but then he pulled me close to him. We snuggled against each other and I didn't try to urge my heart to slow down because I liked the feeling of it knocking against my ribcage. As I felt myself drift to sleep, I thought that it almost felt as if my heart was reaching for Arnold.

* * *

I woke up before Arnold the next morning and couldn't help but gaze at his sleeping face for a while. He looked so childlike and peaceful; it was almost creepy. I got out of the bed gently, readjusted the covers on him and headed towards my clothes. I simply grabbed my oversized dress shirt, not wanting to bother with getting fully dressed this early on a Sunday and walked out of my room.

Bob was sitting in his boxers in the living room and was reading the newspaper when I came down. I considered saying good morning, but briefly wondered what the point of that would be and decided to head straight to the kitchen instead. The sound of Miriam's blender getting turned on made me almost jump out of my own skin. She apologized tiredly and turned it off. She poured the content into a glass and drank from it with a groan.

 _At 9am, Miriam?_ I thought, but just shook my head and walked to the refrigerator. _I wonder what Arnold would like to eat anyway?_

"Oh, dear." I heard my mom say behind me and I looked at her over my shoulder. She was crouched down on the floor and for a second, I thought that she was feeling dizzy, but then I noticed something on the floor. "Is this yours?"

"Oh… uh, y-yes. It's a new jacket actually. I must have dropped it when I came home yesterday." I lied and grabbed the leather jacket from Miriam's grip.

"You went shopping? That sounds nice, dear." Miriam said and drank from her homemade smoothie again.

With a sigh, I returned to the refrigerator, holding the coat closely to me as I prepared breakfast for myself and Arnold. Miriam was talking while I did, telling me about her former night with Bob. As I had suspected, they had been on a sort of double date with another couple that was just like them; you know, perfect on the outside and rotten on the inside. I wondered if both couples knew that they were only having these double dates in order to seem normal to the rest of the world.

Once I was done with making the breakfast though, I told Miriam I would be eating upstairs. She had made a small hum and told me to enjoy my food, not even noticing that I had taken double portions of everything on the trey. I walked up the stairs and pushed my door open with my foot. Arnold was sitting up in the bed and watched me as I closed the door with my hip.

"You keep impressing me." the blonde boy teased and then noticed his leather jacket over my arm. "Did your parents find it?"

"Just Miriam, thank God." I said before throwing the jacket over his pants. "I claimed it was mine so I might just have to buy one in case she remembers it."

"I'll show you where to get the good ones." Arnold joked while I went to put the trey on his lap. "How did you know I eat everything for breakfast?"

"Oh, shut up." I said and sat next to him. "I didn't know what you'd like so I just grabbed a little bit of everything."

"Obviously." Arnold teased and grabbed a piece of bread to cover it with jam. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Eat as much as you can." I told him before grabbing an apple for myself. I didn't bother cutting it and just took a big chunk of it.

"Didn't your parents notice you taking all this?"

"They're oblivious. Bob's reading the paper and Miriam's already drunk."

Arnold choked on the piece of bread he had just bit off. "It's barely 10am!"

"Don't tell me that, tell _her_."

Arnold chewed on his bread thoughtfully. "You weren't kidding last night…" he muttered to himself. I shrugged, not particularly interested in the sudden epiphany he'd had. I noticed that he was deep in thought so I took the chance to observe his arm once again. It really was completely covered in surgery scars, I could count at least three long ones going around and up his arm. The first between his wrist and elbow, the second circling from his elbow and to his triceps and the last over his shoulder and to his shoulder blade. They were still sorta reddish with a purple tint to them, but I could imagine they had looked much different last year when they had just been made.

"Hey," Arnold said and I almost apologized because I figured that he had caught me staring. "wanna go to a party with me?"

" _Now_?!"

"No, you idiot!" Arnold replied and started laughing. "Tonight."

"What party?"

"Iggy is a guy in my class. Gerald mentioned to me that he had invited us both so… do you want to come along?"

"I guess… It could be a good chance to talk to Gerald too and make up with him."

"I'm not sure if he's going to be there or not." Arnold admitted with a shrug.

"Why do you wanna go then?"

"I just need to get some alcohol in my system I think." He replied and gulped when he noticed the way I was looking at him. "S-Sorry, wrong person to say that to."

"Oh, please. I'm not a total prude or anything. I drink too, just more moderately than Miriam does."

"Well, we don't have to drink and if it's boring, we'll split." Arnold suggested with a small smile.

I couldn't help but smile back. "Why the hell not?"

* * *

"You know, there's going to be a lot of people at this party." Arnold told me as we walked down the street.

"Uh-huh?" I said questioningly and readjusted the oversized pink t-shirt I was wearing. It had black paint on it, creating a huge skull that covered me all the way half down my thighs. Under the t-shirt I was wearing some black stockings with what looked like thick strings twirling around my legs. They were creative without being attention-seeking; the way I liked it. Besides that, all I was wearing was some random black bracelets. I didn't feel like dressing up for a party I wasn't sure I was going to stay at.

"I'm just thinking… it might be a good idea if you give me your number."

I smiled and looked at Arnold innocently. "You're worried I'm gonna get lost? How courteous of you."

"I'm a gentleman." Arnold insisted with a shrug, but his smile told me that he knew I wasn't buying his excuse.

"Something tells me you have ulterior motives."

Arnold made a loud, artificial gasp. "How could you think I would have ulterior motives?"

"Because you always do."

"You think too little of me." Arnold insisted and then started waving. I looked in the same direction and saw a tall, lanky boy waving at us.

"Iggy?" I asked him and Arnold nodded.

"Hey, man! I'm glad you came!" the tall boy said and approached us. He had brown hair and was wearing sunglasses despite the sun having already gone down. "And you brought a date?! Hi there."

"Hi." I replied awkwardly and looked at Arnold for guidance.

"Iggy, this is Helga. Helga, Iggy." Arnold introduced us and Iggy reached for my hand. I took it somehow sheepishly, but that had obviously not affected my grip because he hissed before pulling his hand away from mine. "Claws down, Helga."

"I didn't mean to." I said honestly, but Iggy just laughed.

"Figures Arnold would fancy a girl like you."

"Oh, yeah? Got any secrets about him you'd share?" I asked and flashed my eyelashes playfully.

"Oh, she's dangerous, Arnold." Iggy said and put his arm over my shoulder. "Well, in fourth grade Arnold here became really good friends with this guy named Frankie, but - - "

"You're _not_ telling her that story!" Arnold said and pushed Iggy away from me, though obviously not harshly since Iggy didn't fall. "And hands off." he added before putting his own arm over my shoulders.

 _And my heart just went boom_ , I thought and tried to hide the smile I knew was growing on my face. "Oh, come on! Who was Frankie?" I asked curiously.

"Just some jerk."

"A _cool_ jerk," Iggy insisted with a smirk. "that almost made Arnold a criminal."

I looked at Arnold in shock and he huffed. "He tricked me, ok? I was a stupid kid." He explained.

"How ironic that you turned out to be a delinquent anyway." I said teasingly and he gave me a bit of a hateful grin. As if he couldn't figure out whether to scowl or smile at me.

"Could you tell her the good stories of me instead?" Arnold asked. "I'd do the same for you."

"So you want me to impress her for you?" Well, let's see…" Iggy said and I chuckled at the embarrassment that was so very clear on Arnold's face. "You've done a lot of impressive things, Arnold. You got Hillwood in a record book, you made the whole town shut off their lights so we could see Sally's comet, you've won an eating contest, you helped coach Wittenberg get Tish back after she dumped him - - "

I listened intensely while Iggy listed highlight after highlight in Arnold's life. Arnold seemed to get more and more embarrassed with every moment Iggy told me about, slowly regretting that he had even suggested him impressing me on his behalf. I, on the other hand, became in fact more and more impressed with Arnold. Before Eduardo had decided to screw him up, he had clearly been an amazing person. The pinnacle of young heroes even. I would have felt inferior next to him if I was the kind of girl to feel unconfident to anyone.

"Hey, Arnold!" a booming, male voice cut through the crowd of people surrounding Iggy's house. Iggy stopped talking and looked apologetically at Arnold while I tried to see where the voice came from.

"Is that…?" Arnold asked and as soon as Iggy nodded, he pulled his arm away from me as if I had burned him. I scowled at Arnold because of that action, wondering why he didn't want whoever was approaching us to see him with his arm around me. "Why is he here?"

"I didn't invite him, Arnold. He just showed up, you know how he is." Iggy explained himself.

"Been a long time." The bulky guy that had just approached us said. He had blonde, spiky hair and a square face. His nose was big, round and decorated with a septum. He was a head taller than me and looked like he had taken half as many beatings as he had given. Even I felt weak in his presence, especially when he decided to look at me. "And who do we have here?" he asked and I felt a menace in his voice. "Is that your date, Arnold?"

"Oh, please. I don't even know her." Arnold replied coldly.

My heart went boom again, but not in the same way. I wanted to scowl, to glare at Arnold, but I was frozen in place. It wasn't as much the words as the way he had said them that made me blood boil. He hadn't even hesitated; what was with this change of attitude? Who was this guy and why did Arnold seem ashamed of me because of him? I exhaled sharply, doing my best to contain my temper.

"Really?" the guy asked and crossed his arms, apparently not convinced by Arnold's words. "Who's the chick, Iggy?"

"She's, uh, she's _my_ date actually!" Iggy said and put his arm around my waist before I could protest. "Let's get you something to drink, babe." He said and pulled me along before I could even consider breaking his wrist. I wanted to, but I didn't look back when we walked away from Arnold and that beefy-looking guy. I got more and more angry as we entered Iggy's house. I could hear Iggy telling me something, probably attempting to explain Arnold's behavior, but I wasn't listening. All I could hear was the tone-deaf music that was filling the entire house while drunken teenagers were moving in what I assumed was supposed to be in harmony to the music.

I pulled out of Iggy's grip. "I'm gonna get something to drink." I told him and headed for a table that was filled with different kind of bottles.

"Just remember what I said, ok?" Iggy asked of me and I just waved my hand dismissively at him. I don't know if he realized that I wasn't listening to him, but I headed straight for the shots anyhow.

I poured some rum into a glass and chugged the entire thing down in one go. It burned my throat and I coughed. Once my coughing fit had ended, I poured another shot and chugged that as well. This one burned my throat just as much as the former one, but rather than coughing I just felt my eyes sting. I ignored it and drank a third one and started to feel the effects at that moment. When I exhaled I could smell the rum on my breath. As I chugged a fourth glass, I felt as if I understood my mom a little bit more. The anger I had felt at Arnold for his dismissal of me was fading away slowly. I wondered what kind of person Miriam was like when she wasn't drinking as I drank my fifth shot.

"Are you going for a record?" a guy behind me asked and I looked at him over my shoulder. He looked like a blub, but I assumed he was a normal human being. "Wanna compete?"

I shrugged and poured myself another glass, noticing that it was already getting harder to hit the glass and not the table. The guy next to me poured a glass as well and clinked it against mine. I chugged it down and banged it on the table a second after him. I gawked at him in disbelief and my competitive side showed its ugly face as I challenged him once again. This time I won and we were starting to get an audience that was cheering us on. Perhaps too much because I soon lost count of how many shots I had taken.

"You're half camel!" the guy told me as he snickered, clearly intoxicated himself.

"Except the humps aren't on her back." another guy added and the crowd laughed.

"I can still kick your ass." I insisted and shook a clumsy fist at him. I lost my footing, don't ask me how, and crashed on the floor. "Help me! I'm twisted and I can't get up!" I joked as I waved my arms and legs around like a turtle lying on its back. The teenagers around me doubled over laughing and some even copied my action of acting like a turtle.

The feeling of someone grabbing my arm and hoisting me up caught my attention, but my sub consciousness told me that I noticed it much later than I would usually have. "What are you doing?" a familiar voice asked me.

I looked at the blub for a moment, waiting for my eyes to recognize what I was looking at. "Ah, Arnold! Join us on the turtle island!" I ordered and waved my hand in the air which made the others laugh once again.

"How much did you drink?" Arnold asked me and turned to look at the table behind us. "You didn't empty that entire bottle on your own, did you?"

"What bubble?" I asked and looked around, expecting to see bubbles somewhere.

Arnold sighed. "So much for drinking moderately; you're drunk off your ass."

"I don't think that's anatomically possible." I said, stumbling over the words.

"I'm taking you home." Arnold told me and forced me to walk with him, but I fell almost immediately. He had his left arm around my waist so he could easily save me from the fall. He looked me over for a moment and he seemed to decide that I wasn't capable of walking on my own. He hoisted me over his shoulder and I squealed in delight while the others laughed loudly at the image.

"You brute!" I said as I laughed and kicked my legs lazily. Arnold clearly wasn't amused by the situation, but I could feel him chuckle anyhow while he carried me out of the house. I looked at the guests, my vision getting somehow clearer since we had gone outside. I noticed the big dumbass Iggy and I had left Arnold with earlier. He was looking at us with a knowing smirk as he talked to some guys next to him. "Boy…" I muttered to myself. "What an antagonist."

* * *

"It's a good thing I know where your spare key is." Arnold told me as he moved the fake rock aside and grabbed the key. I was leaning against him since my legs kept failing me whenever I tried to take a step on my own. "Come on, you drunken dumbass." He told me and wrapped his arm around my waist.

I followed him obediently up the stairs. "So you're gonna stay at my place again, aren't you?"

"Seems like it." Arnold said in a much quieter voice than I had. I wasn't as worried about my parents hearing us as he was. Then he chuckled. "I don't know though, can I really trust myself with you?"

I gasped in incredulity as Arnold closed the door behind us and helped me to my bed. "The nerve! How do I know _you_ won't try anything?" I asked before I sat down on the bed. I turned to look at him, glaring at him suspiciously.

"First of all, drunk or not; you could still neuter me." Arnold told me with a lopsided grin. I nodded seriously before holding up two fingers. " _Second_ of all… I don't want you blind drunk."

"What? You're saying I've lost my charm?" I asked as I laid down on the bed and bit on my lower lip. In my drunken state I didn't notice Arnold gulping nervously.

"I'm saying that I'm a gentleman. I thought I proved that last night."

"Actually you didn't! You _did_ try something."

"Something _you_ started it. So me being suspicious of you makes more sense."

I blew a raspberry at Arnold as I grabbed the covers and pulled them over my childishly. "You're dying to though." I said playfully and turned on my side, deliberately letting the covers slide down my arms and uncover my chest.

"Not gonna." Arnold replied with a casual smile.

"Dying to."

"Not gonna."

"Dying to…" I insisted one last time before I felt my eyes close. I felt the bed shift as Arnold lied down next to me and I felt the duvet slide up my arms again. Then he leaned closer and the last thing I heard was the words he whispered.

"Gonna someday."

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: I wasn't really sure whether I wanted to keep this last scene in the chapter because it felt kinda pointless. But I figured there were a few cute moments there that were worth keeping so I let it stay :P**


	8. Three cheers for Demerol

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Bad behavior"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **When Helga came home after her unofficial session with Dr. Bliss Arnold was waiting for her in front of her house and told her he had been kicked out. She invited him to stay which caused a skeleton to come out of his closet when she suddenly realized that his right arm was weak in comparison to the other. He told her about his attempted suicide and how it may have permanently made him lose function in his right hand.**_

 _ **Arnold invited Helga to a party that turned out to be a very short one. Once a guy Helga had no idea who was showed up, Arnold pretended not to have a clue who she was, which caused her to start drinking in anger. Arnold carried Helga home and she noticed the guy looking at them as he did.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I** _ **still**_ **don't know what to say! So… just enjoy? Again… XD**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 8: "Three cheers for Demerol"

I turned around in my bed as I slowly woke up. I turned to the other side and spread myself on the bed. I frowned when I realized that I hadn't hit anything when I did and forced my eyes open. I called Arnold's name, but no answer. I looked around, but he was nowhere in sight. His pants were gone along with his t-shirt and jacket and there was absolutely no sign of him anywhere.

"What the hell?" I mumbled before I noticed a note on my nightstand. I grabbed it along with my glasses and read it aloud to myself. " _Good morning, Helga. I'm sorry, but I had to go. I'll pick you up after school. Be careful on your way there. Here is my number. Arnold_ … Be careful? Who are you, my dad? Wait, not _my_ dad, just _a_ dad."

After writing the number down on my cellphone, I crumbled the note in my hand and threw it in the trashcan. With a yawn I forced myself out of the bed, wondering what could have made Arnold leave so early in the morning. I noticed that I had a slight headache and remembered where we had been the night before, that I had been drinking and also why. Who was that weird guy that apparently Arnold didn't want me to meet? He had looked scary alright so maybe it had been his way of trying to protect me?

I gave up on trying to figure out how Arnold's brain worked; I had been unsuccessful so far so why would that change just because we had spent the weekend together? I turned off my brain while I prepared myself for school, deciding to just ask Arnold about it when I would see him later.

* * *

 _I'm not sure if I'm still pissed with Arnold or not_ , I admitted to myself as the school bell rang. I quickly packed my backpack and decided that I was in fact still pissed with Arnold. Not just because of his behavior the former night, but also for just leaving a note and not explaining anything. In fact, he didn't deserve that I would just come to him whenever he damn well pleased.

"Hey, Phoebe. Wanna go through the gates in the back of the school today?" I asked the shorter girl and she looked at me curiously.

"You want to go somewhere?" she asked while she threw her backpack over her shoulders.

I shrugged. "Yeah… wherever the back of the school leads us to." I told her randomly. She seemed to notice that there was something wrong, but she knew better than to question it just yet.

Phoebe followed me obediently through the halls, telling me about the things that were in the new direction I had decided to take us in. I couldn't bring myself to tell her that I just wanted to avoid Arnold for as long as I could. I knew my actions were horribly childish and probably uncalled for. Stupid even, I could just ask him what was going on, but my Pataki temperament and pride wouldn't let me.

"Uh, Helga…" Phoebe said in a small voice and I looked at her. She was pointing at something ahead of us and I looked. At the street, leaning against a car, stood the very guy that had driven a wedge between myself and Arnold. Him along with two goons.

"Hi… Helga, was it?" the blonde guy asked me.

I frowned as I looked at him and reached for Phoebe who immediately took my hand. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to talk to you for a bit." The guy answered and one of his friends opened the car door for me. "Hop in."

"Yeah, well. I don't have time for that. I have plans with my friend." I said and dragged Phoebe with me. We had barely walked past them before I felt Phoebe's hand leave my own. When I turned around, I saw one of the guys holding her against himself and with a knife threateningly close to her cheek. "Phoebe! Let go of her!"

"We don't want your friend, we just want you. Come with us and she won't be hurt." The guy holding Phoebe told me. Despite knowing that Phoebe had a black belt in karate, it didn't cross my mind that she could get out of this situation herself. All the karate skills in the world didn't help against a knife after all.

"Fine. Just let her go." I said as I approached her. The guy pushed Phoebe near me and she looked up at me with fear in her eyes. "Arnold's at the gates." I whispered to her just before I was grabbed and thrown into the car. I sat up and watched as Phoebe ran through the schoolyard towards the gates. The boys one-by-one sat into the car and the guy with the knife sat next to me, waving the guy threateningly at me.

"Play nice, Edmund." The blonde guy said sarcastically as he sat down in the seat in front of me while his other goon started the car. "I don't believe I've introduced myself, Helga. The name is Wolfgang."

 _Wolfgang_ , the name repeated in my mind and I suddenly realized why Arnold had refused to introduce me to him. _Oh, that sweet idiot! He was trying to protect me, he knew Wolfgang would use me against him! Why am I such an idiot?! If I had just gone to Arnold this wouldn't have happened!_

* * *

"Tie her up." Wolfgang told the guy named Edmund. The guy grabbed my wrists and tied them together with some rope before he pushed me out of the car. I groaned as I had the asphalt, but shouted when Edmund picked me back up again. I looked around me; I had never been in this part of town before. The guys led me into what looked like a rundown out-of-use clubhouse of some sort. Once we were inside, I was pushed to the floor again and I groaned for what felt like the hundredth time since they had kidnapped me. "Don't damage the goods, Edmund."

I sat up on the floor, breathing heavily. "If you think you can get to Arnold through me you're sorely mistaken!"

"I don't think I am." Wolfgang insisted as he sat on a one-man couch in front of me. "He almost tricked me with this _I don't know her_ comment, but it just proved that he knew I'd use you against him. He _really_ shouldn't have dragged you into all of this, Helga."

" _You_ dragged me into this, you son of a bitch!" I shouted at him.

Edmund was about to walk towards me, but Wolfgang stopped him. "Do you even understand the situation you're in, girly? One word from me and I could make you horribly disfigured." He told me before he grabbed a cigarette from his pocket. Edmund held a lighter out and turned it on for him.

"Why the hell do you care so much about Arnold anyway?!" I asked in disbelief before he blew some smoke in my face. I coughed for a short moment, but that didn't remove the scowl on my face.

"I need to teach him that messing with me doesn't go unpunished." Wolfgang replied and held a cigarette out for me. "Want one?"

"Kinda hard to smoke with my hands tied." I countered and waved my fists in front of him for good measure. In that moment, I realized that the idiots hadn't been smart enough to tie my hands _behind_ my back. "Huh. I guess I want one after all."

Wolfgang put the cigarette in my mouth and I held it unnaturally with my lips. I had never smoked before in my life and I wasn't planning to even as Edmund held the lighter out for me. As soon as he was close enough, I swung my tied wrists over his head. I then pulled myself off the floor with his unintentional help. I kicked him with my knee repeatedly until the other goon grabbed me and got me away from him.

Wolfgang was laughing hysterically. "Oh, man! She's the best! I'm almost jealous of Arnold! How the hell did he score a fine dame like you?" he asked and lifted Edmund off the floor by one arm, telling him to stop whining.

"By not being a bastard like you!" I replied and knocked my elbow into the guy behind me who groaned, but did nothing more.

Wolfgang just laughed. "Get her phone. It's time we make a little call to her boyfriend." He said. Before I knew it, the guy behind me was messing around in the pocket of my pants.

"Hands off!" I said and banged my head into his which caused him to let go of me completely. I barely got to run five steps before Edmund tackled me to the ground and got my phone out of my pants. "Get your monkey off me!"

"Off, monkey." Wolfgang said jokingly and Edmund jumped off me. I stayed put on the floor, feeling a throbbing pain in my shoulders from the former tackle, while Edmund gave Wolfgang my phone. "What's the code, toots?"

"I'm not your toots!" I spit at him.

"I just want Arnold's number." Wolfgang said and cocked his head towards me. Edmund pulled his knife out of his pocket and waved it around threateningly in front of my face. With a groan, I told him my code and I saw him messing around with my phone for a short moment before he pushed speaker. I heard Arnold's voice calling my name in a panic and I wished I hadn't told Wolfgang the code. "Hey, Arnold. It was good to see you last night."

"Wolfgang, you bastard! I swear if you hurt Helga I'll - - "

"I won't hurt your little girlfriend… as long as you do what I say."

"Where's Helga?! Let me speak to Helga!" I heard Phoebe's voice shout from the phone. Wolfgang looked at me for a moment, shrugged and handed Edmund the phone. He walked over to me, crouched and held the phone out to me. I kept my mouth shut until Edmund sliced the knife against my cheek and I felt a burning sting and couldn't help but groan. "Helga? What are they doing to you?!"

"I'm fine, Phoebs… I'm fine. Tell Arnold not to come here!" I yelled in the phone and Edmund pulled it away from me, glaring at me as I glared back. Edmund handed Wolfgang the phone again while Phoebe was screaming something in Japanese. I couldn't help but smile, she only ever spoke Japanese when she was really angry. Whatever she was saying it wasn't nice.

"Put Arnold back on the phone, you Jap." Wolfgang said.

"You racist - - " I started, but Edmund had the knife against my cheek within a second. "That's all you can do, isn't it? Wave your little knife around."

"Where is she?" I could hear Arnold ask on the phone.

"Promise to come here alone and I'll tell you." Wolfgang replied. I could imagine the torn expression Arnold must have been making as he promised to show up alone. After Wolfgang had told him the address he hung up on him and smirked at me.

"You're a coward!" I hissed in anger.

"A coward?" Wolfgang repeated in disbelief. "How am I a coward?"

"You want to take Arnold down, but are afraid of him so you go after me instead. But you know I can kick your ass too so you have me tied up! How is that not coward-like behavior?!"

"You little bitch!" Edmund shouted at me, but Wolfgang stopped him once again.

"Untie her." Wolfgang told him. Both Edmund and I looked at him in surprise, but Edmund lifted me off the floor and untied my wrists dutifully. "Now," Wolfgang said and approached me. "we can fight evenly, right?"

Before I could even consider lifting my fist to punch him, Wolfgang had already punched me in the stomach. The force caused me to fall to the floor and I held my stomach as I shook violently. _Fuck!_ I cursed. It had been a long time since I had been hit like that.

"Boys, we'll have a guest soon. Go make sure he gets a warm welcome." Wolfgang told his goons. I watched as they ran out of the room, leaving me and Wolfgang alone. He crouched next to me, smirking. "Tied up or not, seems like I'm still the strongest."

With a hiss, I lifted my leg and kicked Wolfgang in the face. It made him fall on his ass and I leapt up. I straddled him and started punching him as fast and hard as I could, but he grabbed my wrists and pushed me off him. I crawled backwards, hoping to make a dash for the door, but he grabbed my ankles and pulled me back to him. He straddled my hips and I gave a loud shout in fury.

"I know why Arnold has the hots for you; you're feisty."

"I can get a lot feistier than this!"

"Good because you're gonna need it, bitch."

I groaned before I lifted my knee and kicked him where it hurt. He doubled over, holding his junk with both of his hands, which gave me the chance to turn around. I crawled for a moment before getting up on my feet and ran towards the door. The second I grabbed the door handle, Wolfgang got me by my hair and I screamed as he banged my head against the wall. He gave me a second to feel the pain before he did it again twice and let me fall to the floor. I spit out some blood and forced myself to look at Wolfgang as he crouched in front of me again.

"Do you even know Arnold?" he asked. "He's not the sweet guy he pretends to be."

"I'd never describe him as a sweet guy." I told him honestly. "He's violent, rude and unreliable."

"And you're still dating him?"

"We aren't dating…" I said and smirked. "Sucks for you, huh? You've wasted your time with me."

Wolfgang grabbed my bangs and I made a small grunt as he pulled on them. "Nah, he cares about you even if you aren't officially dating. Didn't you hear him on the phone? He sounded like he was ready to start bawling like a baby." He said and grinned smugly. "Since his folks took the ticket he's toughened up, but he's still a pussy."

With a loud shout, I put my arm over Wolfgang's and my other hand on his palm. I used all of my strength to twist his arm until I heard a snap. He pulled away, shouting as if he had just been shot and held his wrist. I smirked at him in satisfaction.

"Who's the baby now?" I asked him and got on my feet. "Let's see how much you can do with only one arm."

Wolfgang jumped on his feet and targeted at me. I ran to the side, successfully dodging him. I pushed him against the wall and banged his head into the wall repeatedly until he turned around and grabbed me by my hair once again. I shouted as he forced me to the floor and swung me around like a ragdoll until he threw me against the wall. Before I could get back up, he forced me to face the floor as he sat on my lower back.

"You little bitch… you actually broke my wrist." Wolfgang sneered in my ear and I tried lifting myself off the floor, but he was too heavy and my head was spinning too much. "Fine… I'll break something of yours then."

With those words I felt a hand lift my t-shirt and I hissed. "What are you - - "

"Imagine the look on Arnold's face when he sees you being fucked by me." Wolfgang said with pure menace in his voice. "The face you're making right now is making me so horny, I might just do this for my own sake as well."

 _God, he's sickening_ , I thought as I felt his hand reach up to my bra and touch my breast. I gurgled at the blood in my mouth and clenched my fist. "You fucking - - " I said as I turned around, but he had foreseen this action and punched my face the moment I had shown it to him. My head hit the floor again and I closed my eyes. All I felt was this throbbing pain, but I knew Wolfgang was touching me. I could hear my belt being unlocked, but I couldn't feel it. _Shit_ , I thought as I tried to lift my arm, but realized that he had his knee on it.

The sound of the door opening caught my ears and both Wolfgang and I looked near it. "Arnold." I whispered slowly. He stood in the doorframe and looked around until he saw us on the floor and his eyes widened. I felt so ashamed for being seen in this state, but the way he was looking at Wolfgang was what made my skin crawl.

Wolfgang sighed. "Those guys are useless." He said as he lifted himself off me and I became disgustingly aware of the fact that my t-shirt was pulled all the way up to my chin and my pants were unzipped, but still around my hips. I wanted to cover up, but I didn't have the strength. "I thought they could hold you off just a little bit longer. It's a real shame, Arnold. I was just about to make your girl my - - "

Wolfgang never got to finish his sentence before Arnold punched him so hard that Wolfgang fell to the floor, but not before hitting his head on a marble table. The sound echoed in the big room and I managed to sit up when I saw Phoebe and Gerald run through the door. Phoebe was calling my name, but all I could look at was Arnold as he stood hovering above Wolfgang. Phoebe was looking me over, asking me if I was hurt, but I shook my head.

"What's Gerald doing here?" I asked, but decided that I didn't care. "Help me up." I told Phoebe and once I was standing I heard a crack. I turned to see Arnold who was currently in the middle of kicking Wolfgang in the stomach. It had started with some slow kicks, but soon he was doing it furiously as if he was hypnotized. I called his name, but he wasn't listening. I wobbled over to him and put my arm over his chest and my head on his shoulder. "I'm ok… I'm fine."

"But he was - - "

"Let's just go, ok? Please…" I begged and grabbed his t-shirt to pull him with me. He took a couple of steps before kicking Wolfgang one last time who was definitely out cold at this point. He then followed me obediently and Gerald and Phoebe walked behind us.

As we walked through the clubhouse I saw Edmund and the other goon on the floor. They were both out cold, bloodied and bruised. I wondered how crazy Arnold had gotten and whether Gerald and Phoebe's help had even been needed. They sure didn't look as dirty as he did.

Once we were outside, the cold wind hit me like a shovel. I threw up and Phoebe held my hair as she caressed my back. I tried to keep my mind blank, but Wolfgang's words and his touches kept flashing in my mind and I kept throwing up.

"Arnold!" I heard Gerald's voice shout and I turned my head to look at them. Gerald had his hand on his shoulder, but when he removed it his palm was covered in blood. My own vomiting stopped immediately and I looked at Arnold questioningly as he put his hand over his shoulder. His _right_ shoulder I noticed.

"Oh, no…" I said and tried to reach for him, but my own pain wouldn't let me move. _Oh, please... let his arm be ok._

* * *

"It's a miracle that he could keep fighting despite being stabbed in the shoulder, especially considering that his right arm is already malfunctioning."

I listened to the doctor as he spoke, but I kept looking at Arnold. I was sitting next to him in the hospital bed, holding his hand in my own. Besides a major headache and a few bruises I had gotten out of the crossfire damage free. Arnold had been stabbed by Edmund though and had kept fighting despite it. The blood had been oozing out of him and it had been a grim sight. The doctor said that if he didn't relax his arm from now on he might lose complete function in it. He was lucky that the knife hadn't hit the rotator tendon, whatever the hell that was.

"Before it was just the hand, now it's the whole goddamn arm." Arnold complained as he tried stretching his fingers, but they didn't listen to him.

"You're all lucky that you got out of there alive."

"What's going to happen to them?" I asked with a frown.

"The police is interrogating them right now. I can't say for sure, but I think there's enough evidence against them to put them in jail for a long time." The doctor told me reassuringly and I sighed in relief.

"I'll leave you four alone now." The doctor said before walking out of the room.

We were quiet for a long time before Arnold started speaking. "I'm really sorry." He said to no one in particular it seemed.

"Why are you apologizing?" I asked in surprise and he looked at me.

"This is all my fault… if I hadn't taken you to that stupid party then Wolfgang wouldn't have seen you and almost…" he said, but his voice broke before he could continue his sentence.

"You finally realize." Gerald said and we all looked at him. " _This_ is exactly why I didn't want you to meet Phoebe. I was afraid that what almost happened to Helga today might have happened to Phoebe!"

"Now hold on - - "

"No, shut up, Pataki. I need to say this." Gerald interrupted me and looked back at Arnold. "Look, I get that you're hurting and I know that it sucks that you're never going to meet your parents, but it's time to move on! You're hurting everyone around you and today has just proved that! Helga was beaten up and almost raped just because she knows you!"

"No!" I shouted and approached Gerald. "All that happened because Wolfgang is a lowlife son of a bitch who can't handle someone standing up to him! And if _you_ had been more of a friend and stood up to Wolfgang when Arnold did, he wouldn't have been all alone about it!"

"You're saying this is my fault?!"

"I'm saying that it's no one's fault, but the one who actually hurt me, that meaning Wolfgang! This didn't happen because Arnold is a bad person or have made bad choices, this happened because Wolfgang decided to make Arnold his victim by using me!"

"You're so fucking stupid! If we hadn't been there in time you might have been raped!"

"Shut up!" Arnold shouted loudly and both Gerald and I turned to look at him. He was breathing heavily and I could see that he was struggling with the pain his yelling had caused him. "He's right, Helga."

"What? No, he's - - "

"He's right." Arnold insisted and held his hand out for me. I glared at Gerald before I took Arnold's hand and sat down next to him. "All of this wouldn't have happened… if I hadn't brought you to that party."

"I - - "

"Or if I had just explained it to you sooner. If you had known that guy was Wolfgang, you wouldn't have avoided me this morning and then he couldn't have taken you."

"He might have kidnapped her later though." Gerald insisted and crossed his arms.

"Maybe, which just proves that I should have been better at protecting you. I knew what Wolfgang was capable of…" Arnold continued and took a big breath. "I really think… it's better for you to stay away from me."

I would have felt devastated if Arnold had shown any confidence in his own words. "Next time you want me to do something, say it more convincingly." I told him. He sighed and tried to speak, but I put a finger over his lips. "No. Not another word about staying away from each other. It's way too late for that, Arnold. This whole thing hasn't proved to me that I'm better off without you, it's proved to me what you are willing to do for me. I mean look at you!"

Arnold looked at his sling. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"Exactly." I said and sat down at his eyelevel. "And it's that frame of mind that proves that you aren't a bad person… Just like all those stories Iggy told me about you. I would like to meet the Arnold that existed last year." I continued and moved my hand up to remove a lock of his hair from his forehead. "So, too bad, Football Head. You're stuck with me now."

Arnold was gazing at me for the longest time before I heard Phoebe giggle behind me. "She means business, you know. Helga isn't the kind of person to let go of something." She said matter-of-factly. I frowned at her, embarrassed that she could say that so easily, but she just shrugged innocently at me.

"You're not changing your mind no matter what I tell you?" Arnold asked me hopefully. I wasn't sure what he was hoping for my answer to be though.

I shook my head. "Nope." I replied casually.

Arnold sighed as he leaned his head back on the pillow. "You're crazy."

"Which makes us perfect for each other." I stated and leaned back on the pillow as well. Arnold chuckled in disbelief and smiled at me. I smiled back at him, but then thought of something. "I do have a condition actually."

"You're negotiating with him?" Gerald asked in disbelief and crossed his arms.

"Yes," I said matter-of-factly while looking at Arnold who looked somewhat nervous. "I want you out of Gerald's apartment."

That clearly surprised everyone. "Do you hate me or something?" Gerald asked.

"It's got nothing to do with you, Geraldo." I told him and looked back at Arnold. "It's time to go home."

Gerald looked at Phoebe in surprise and she looked at him as well. Gerald's attitude towards my negotiating, as he had called it, changed drastically. "I'm on Helga's side on this." He said and put his hands on his hips.

"You know why I can't go back." Arnold said as he looked at Gerald.

"I don't." I interfered. "Tell me."

Arnold hesitated for a short while, but quickly gave up on sneaking out of this. "After Eduardo told me about my parents and after the accident I… kinda took it out on everyone around me. Gerald, my other friends, strangers on the street and… my grandparents. I've said some… horrible things to them and I just can't face them."

"Wait. When was the last time you talked to them?"

"I guess… at the end of spring."

"At the end of - - So you decided to stop going to school _and_ talk to the people who raised you at the same time?" I asked angrily and slapped Arnold at the top of his head.

"Watch it! He's taken some beatings today." Gerald warned.

"It's not like there's any more brain cells to knock out of his skull." I countered and looked back at the blonde boy who was massaging his head. "Arnold, did your grandparents ever say _anything_ about wanting to get you out of their lives?"

"N-No…"

"Then don't you think they're scared? They have no idea where you are or if you're even alive! They must be worried sick." I told him and slapped his head again.

"Stop that." Arnold begged and caressed his head. He didn't look at me for a bit before he made a low sigh. "You called it a condition…"

"Yes."

"So if I refuse?"

"I'll walk out of your life. Just like you said before. You don't want that though, I've known that since you offered to tell me your story the last time I threatened to leave you. So what's it gonna be?" I asked and crossed my arms stubbornly. Arnold clearly wanted to do the same, but his shoulder wouldn't let him. He looked at me pensively; he didn't want to let me go, but the thought of meeting his grandparents again scared him. I could see that without asking. "Arnold, you helped me… now let me help you."

Arnold gazed me for a bit before sighing in surrender. He nodded. "Ok. Fine… I'll go see my grandparents." He said in discomfort. I sighed in relief and wrapped an arm around him, but he instantly cursed and I moved back. He smiled at me. "It would have hurt a lot more if I wasn't heavily medicated…"

I chuckled. "Three cheers for Demerol."

"Hip, hip…"

"Hurray." I finished with a laugh and kissed his temple gently.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: Fuck you, Wolfgang! I don't know what else to say xD I wanted to punch him myself while writing this, but he got what he deserved :P And yes he will go to jail along with Edmund and the other nameless goon xD**


	9. You're a pretty amazing person

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Bad behavior"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **Helga woke up alone Monday morning to nothing but a note with Arnold's number on it. Still angry with his behavior the former night and that he hadn't been there when she woke up, Helga asked Phoebe if they could go behind the school instead and thereby avoid Arnold waiting for her by the gates. Behind the school though, the guy from last night was waiting and Helga was kidnapped before she realized that this was the Wolfgang guy that was part of the reason Arnold had quit school.**_

 _ **Helga was saved the last minute by Arnold before Wolfgang could assault her, but Arnold was stabbed in the process. The chance of him recovering function in his right was now near zero percent, but the chance was there. Arnold insisted Helga should stay away from him after what had happened, but she refused. She had a condition though; he had to go back to his grandparents.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I have a confession! This has actually been done for a day before I uploaded it… I was just** _ **so**_ **tired when I finished it late at night and didn't have it in me to re-read it through before uploading Dx**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 9: "You're a pretty amazing person"

I couldn't see anything, but I could feel it. There was a hand on my leg, caressing it in a ghostly way, but the touch didn't feel feather light; it felt creepy as if an actual ghost was touching me. Another hand was added on my other leg and soon I could feel hands all around my body. The touch was still light, but it was nowhere near gentle. I felt sick to my stomach at all the hands I could feel and I was tossing and turning to get them off me.

Then I felt another pair of hands, but these felt different. They grabbed me by my shoulders and they felt solid. They were stronger somehow and the other hands seemed to fade away as if they were scared. They were shaking me which was a harder action than what the others hands had been doing it, but it felt softer.

I opened my eyes with a gasp and put my hands on whoever was touching me. "Calm down, it's me." Arnold told me with frightened eyes. I looked around me and saw darkness, but I recognized the feeling of my own bed and the moonlight coming through my window shone on Arnold's face. "You had a nightmare."

Arnold put his hand on my cheek and caressed it gently. With another gasp I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down to me. He held me gently and whispered soothing words while I struggled to make my breathing less ragged. Once I had calmed down, I let go of Arnold and he rolled down next to me, still holding his arm over my waist.

"Are you ok?"

I nodded. "I'm fine…" I insisted and snuggled closer to him. "I haven't experienced something horrendous. There are girls out there who'd wish they had been as lucky as I was."

And that was my god-honest feelings about this whole matter; I had been beyond lucky and I was counting my blessings, but it had still been a scary experience and I wasn't going to belittle it. Still, I thought of myself as lucky and refused to let the experience take over my life. I was going to accept what had happened, be glad nothing more did and eventually forget the whole experience.

* * *

I woke up the next morning to some light tapping. I opened my eyes and saw Arnold sitting by my computer and reading something on the screen. I smiled. "What are you looking after exactly?"

Arnold flinched and turned to look at me with a smile. "I just found something you might be interested in." he said, took my laptop and carried it to the bed. I sat up and looked at the screen with him. "This is a poetry competition for amateurs. Look at that number on the prize."

"Whoa… that would be a nice start on my savings to get out of here." I said as I looked at the website.

Since Arnold and I had decided that he would stay at my place in secret until he had the guts to go to his grandparents' house, I had confessed about my secret hobby of writing poems. Or rather he had found one of my many poetry books out of boredom, when I had left him here to go to school again, and had figured it out on his own. I had let him read them all since then and he insisted that they were amazing. He's the only one who had ever read them at that point in my life so all I could do was hope that his feelings for me weren't affecting his judgment.

"Right?" Arnold said with a grin and used his left arm to help me sit up to his eyelevel. "You should send in something."

"Oh, Arnold. The deadline is in like two days." I noticed. "And the poem has to be a minimum of 100 words! I can't make that in time."

"Of course you can. I'll help you."

"How? You aren't exactly creative."

"I don't know. I… can bring you coffee." Arnold suggested.

I rolled my eyes. "Sure because coffee solves everything. I'll think about it. I don't like setting myself up for disappointment though so don't get your hopes up." I said as I stretched and then nudged at him gently. "Get out. I need to put some clothes on."

"Aw," Arnold said with a pout and moved out of my bed. "I hate when you put clothes on."

"Pervert." I stated casually, but he couldn't help but chuckle as I kissed his shoulder gently. "I think you need to tighten the sling a bit."

"I'm gonna need your help with that." Arnold said as he put my laptop down on the desk. I started fumbling with the sling, remembering word by word how the doctor had explained me how to do it. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." I said before walking towards my closet. "I can't believe you have to wear that for another week."

"I'm just happy I got the stitches out after five days. I could feel the strings under my clothes." Arnold said and I watched him jiggle his shoulders in discomfort due to the sling.

"Mind your shoulder… and remember to go to physical therapy today, will you? I don't want to catch you reading my poems instead of getting your arm back on track."

"Helga, face it. My right arm was practically useless before and now it's been stabbed. It's never going to work again." Arnold said. I shot him a hateful stare and he gulped. "Ok, fine. I'll go…"

"I know it's a long shot, Arnold… but you had like a year left after your surgery last year, right?"

"Yeah, the doctors said back then that after two years I should get full function back in my right side. So that means that with the year I had left for that plus the new wound would mean that it should take me another year and a half before I can use this thing properly." Arnold said and moved his arm awkwardly for effect, but hissed the moment he did.

"Stop doing dumb shit and maybe you won't be paralyzed in the right side of your body." I told him somehow angrily. I turned my face away from him and started choosing what to wear for the day. "Actually, I think I'll join you for your physical therapy. I don't trust you to go there on your own."

I froze as I felt Arnold put his arm around me. "Are you worried about me?" he asked in a playful whisper and it sent a shiver down my spine.

"It's my fault you have to go through physical therapy again so I'd call it guilt and not worry." I insisted stubbornly, but I was smiling as I did so, showing him that I wasn't being 100% sincere in my statement.

"Oh…" Arnold said as if he believed me and then started biting on my ear. "Liar."

"Stop that!" I shrieked and started laughing at the ticklish feeling. He held me steady with this left arm, but I couldn't help but not fight against him with all my might. I liked being held by him even if he was tickling me while doing so. Also, I didn't want to risk bumping into his right arm. "My parents will hear me!"

Arnold gave me one last lick on my neck and I shivered as he let go of me. "I'd love it if you joined me in physical therapy. My physiotherapist is a real pain."

"And adding another girl who is a real pain doesn't seem like a bad choice in your world?"

"That's different."

"How?"

"You're _my_ pain." Arnold teased, kissed my forehead and went back to the computer. I smiled goofily at him, but made my expression neutral when he looked at me again. Something told me he had seen my smile though since he was grinning smugly himself.

"Goofball…" I whispered, but then lifted my voice. "Afterwards I think we should go to your grandparents' house."

Arnold stumbled over his own feet as he turned to look at me. "Oh, but… wouldn't that be a bother to you? Not only do you have to join me for physical therapy, now we're also going…" he started, but he noticed that I had crossed my arms. I showed him an unamused glare and he sighed. "I guess… today is as good a day as any."

"Arnold, based on what you and Gerald have told me about your grandparents, I have a hard time believing they'd shun you. Why are you so scared?"

"I'm not scared of them rejecting me. I'm… ashamed of how I left them. The last thing I said to them was that I had wished I'd never been born. They gave me everything, became parents for the second time and I was an ungrateful brat."

"Yeah, for like nine months after you found out your parents were dead. Before that you adored them and they know that. You had the right to act out after everything that happened. They must understand that."

"It's not that easy for me…" Arnold told me as he started playing with my computer, but he didn't sit down in front of it.

I smiled as I approached him and put my arm over his healthy shoulder. He grabbed my hand in his own and I rocked him gently. "I promise I'll be there with you the whole time." I said and kissed the nape of his neck. "It's gonna be fine."

* * *

 _This is a nice neighborhood_ , I thought as Arnold and I walked hand-in-hand down 4040 Vine Street. I was looking around curiously while Arnold was looking at it with nostalgia. "So this is where you grew up?" I asked.

Arnold nodded. "Yeah… and there's Sunset Arms." He said and gestured to a big red building.

"It's a boarding house?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah… I wonder if the same boarders are still there."

"You think anyone there would move within three months?"

Arnold shrugged. "Who knows? Mr. Smith might have moved on… maybe."

"Mr. Smith?" I repeated, noticing something mysterious about the way Arnold had said it.

"A man of privacy." Arnold explained and walked up the stoop. He lifted his hand to knock on the green door, but froze. I waited patiently for him to collect enough courage to knock, but his arm fell down to his hip. I nudged him, but he didn't budge. "What if you're wrong, Helga? What if they are angry? They sacrificed their golden years for me and I ran away."

"Only one way to find out." I answered and nudged at him again. With a sigh, he lifted his hand towards the doorbell. He hesitated, but pushed the button when I nudged at him again. We heard a male voice yell inside and fear painted Arnold's face. "It's gonna be ok - - "

"I can't do this." Arnold declared before he stepped around the door. I called his name, but then the door was opened and he was trapped between it and the wall. He was perfectly hidden and all I could do was look at the man who had opened the door. He was incredibly tall despite his age and was wearing a white t-shirt, brown pants and red suspenders over his shoulders. He was bald and had a characteristic chin.

"We don't want to buy anything." The man I figured was Arnold's grandpa said in a somehow annoyed voice. He squinted his eyes and observed me. "What are you selling anyway?"

"I'm not selling anything." I said, but he didn't seem to be listening to me.

"We don't want it." he said and was about to close the door.

"Wait!" I begged it and put my foot between the door and the frame. "Do you know someone named Arnold?"

The force I had felt from the older man attempting to close the door disappeared instantly. I almost fell down the stoop when he opened the door again, staring at me with big eyes. "Did you say Arnold?" he asked. I looked in Arnold's direction, but nodded at the elder man anyhow. "Gertie!" he shouted all of a sudden and turned his back to me. "Someone is here about Arnold!"

The next thing I saw was an elderly woman running down the stairs in what could only be described as super human speed. This woman had clearly never heard of such a thing as a fragile elderly person. "Is Kimba back, Phil?" she asked and looked out the door and I noticed Arnold squeeze against the wall to stay out of her sight.

"Kimba?" I repeated in confusion.

Phil waved his hand. "Long story." he said. "What about Arnold? How do you know him?"

"Oh, I… I meet him a few weeks ago." I informed them.

"A few weeks ago…" Phil repeated with a serious nod. "A-And how is he?"

"He's… Um…" I said unsurely and looked at Arnold again, but forced my eyes back on the elderly couple. "Your grandson is… not doing too well, but he's alive."

Phil sighed in relief and put his hand on his heart. "Little girl, you almost gave me a heart attack. I was afraid you'd come to tell us that he was dead." He said and Gertie sighed as well.

"I'm sorry…" I said meekly, but decided it was time for Arnold to come out. I had to convince him to do so though. "I want to ask you something. I think Arnold wants to come back, but he's scared. If I can get ahold of him… what do you want me to tell him?"

Phil and Gertie looked at each other nervously and their silence made me nervous as well. "We just want our Kimba back." Gertie said with a certain sadness in her voice that almost sounded out of character. Something told me that this woman wasn't serious most of the time.

"So… all the things he did and said before leaving… you don't hold it against him?"

Phil shook his head. "We just want to know that he's ok. He's our grandson, he's all the family we have left. Losing Miles and Stella was hard enough, but… living without Arnold is painful." He said and put his arm over Gertie. "We just want him back."

I smiled fondly at their words and leaned back to look at Arnold. "Are you hearing this, Football Head?" I asked and the look on his face told me that he had.

Phil and Gertie quickly stepped around the door and Arnold flinched when they saw him. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights and they were staring at him as if he was a ghost. He arched his back, walked towards them and they stepped back to make room for him on the stoop. They all stared at each other for a long time until I ran out of patience and nudged Arnold.

"I…" Arnold started, but his voice broke down. "I-I'm sorry… I never meant to, I didn't mean to hurt you… I'm so sorry. I didn't… I just couldn't face you after the things I did to you and I'm sorry…"

Arnold had closed his eyes and his shoulders were shaking. This was the first time I had seen him with this childlike sorrow. He was truly standing in front of the people who had raised him and he was drowning in shame. I watched as Phil lifted his arms and wrapped them around Arnold's neck which caused him to make a low gasp. He was staring at me in disbelief before he shut his eyes tightly and wrapped his left arm around his grandpa's back.

"It's so good to have you back, Arnold." Phil said.

The elderly man then opened his other arm and Gertie moved in to hug Arnold as well. She said his name fondly as she held him in content. I smiled at the image and felt tears prickling my eyes. Gertie suddenly reached her hand out for me. Thinking that she wanted to shake my hand as thanks, I took her hand with a smile. Before I knew it though, I was gasping as she pulled me into the hug as well. Arnold smiled happily at me and let his forehead touch mine.

"Aye, what's all this commotion about?" a male voice asked and we all broke apart.

"Yes," a man with a thick Vietnamese accent concurred. "what is happening?"

"Is it the guy who wants to buy my jacket?" another man asked and laughed goofily right after.

I moved so Arnold could step around me and he looked at the boarders with a wide grin. The three men gawked at him for a moment before calling his name and running to hug him. Gertie and Phil pulled me back so that I wouldn't get caught in the middle of the stampede and I smiled at them thankfully while Arnold was being hugged so tightly that he had to tell them that he was wearing a sling, which they obviously hadn't noticed.

"Suzie! Suzie!" one of the men called and a blonde woman appeared at the stairs, completely out of breath after having been running.

I gawked at her. "Suzie?!" I bellowed in shock and she looked at me.

"Helga, what are you doing here?" she asked with a broad smile, but then noticed Arnold. "Arnold! You're back!"

Suzie ran down the stairs and hugged Arnold. "Wait. How do you two know each other?" Arnold asked once she had let go of him.

"She's my mom's only friend." I said as I gestured to Suzie.

"Oh, that was harsh, Helga." Suzie said with a small smile. "But yes, I'm a friend of her mother."

"Small world." Arnold stated humorously.

"Wait, who is this girl?" the shortest of the three men asked and looked at me. Now that I could see him, I noticed that he barely reached my hips.

Arnold smiled as he walked back to me and put his arm around my waist. "She's the reason I had the courage to come back here." He said fondly and I smiled embarrassedly at him.

"Well then, you deserve a hug too!" the Vietnamese man said and opened his arms. The boarders all surrounded me and I was hugged by them all at once. I wanted to tell them not to squeeze the life out of me, but I had a feeling they wouldn't listen. Also, they all seemed so happy at the moment, so I couldn't bring myself to burst their bubble.

"So Arnold finally has a little girlfriend." The man I assumed was Oskar, since he was the one who had been calling for Suzie, said and laughed that odd way again.

Arnold and I both tried to deny it, but the boarders wouldn't hear it. "Oh, you must see the pictures from Arnold's childhood." Suzie said, took my hand and pulled me with her. I had been about to decline until I realized that it meant I could see what Arnold had looked like before and I ran with her eagerly.

"Don't you dare, Suzie!" Arnold yelled after her and soon they all joined us in the living room upstairs.

Suzie was quick to find the photo album though and I wondered how many times they had all been looking at the pictures since Arnold ran away. I sat down next to Suzie on the couch and took the book eagerly. The first picture I saw was of baby Arnold sleeping in his crib. I bellowed at him teasingly and he frowned at me. He tried to grab the photo album, but I moved it out of his reach.

"Suzie! I finally come back and this is the welcome I get?" Arnold asked sourly.

Phil ruffled his hair. "What had you expected, Short man?" he asked and laughed gleefully.

"Shortman?" I repeated in confusion. "Isn't that his last name?"

"Which is ironic when he's so short!" Phil said as if that explained why his nickname for his grandson was what it was.

"Oh, put a sock in it." the much shorter man growled and we couldn't help but laugh at the sour look on his face.

"Oh, this is Arnold in fourth grade." Suzie said and pointed at a picture. "He had just won the eating contest at the Block Party."

I looked at the picture and my eyes widened. " _That's_ Arnold?! That scrawny kid?"

"Hey!" Arnold said in clear insult and the other boarders laughed loudly. "I was 9-years-old; what did you expect?"

"I'm sorry," I said in a chuckle. "you just look so skinny in comparison to well… _now_."

"You're staring." Suzie told me in a whisper and I jolted. I forced my eyes away from Arnold and ignored the boarders around me who were snickering knowingly. "And this is him at the first day of fifth grade."

"Ok, I see a pattern here…" I said and eyed his plaid shirt pensively before looking back up at Arnold. "You have a thing for plaid, don't you? Is that why you chose that dress for me back when we first met?"

Arnold shrugged innocently, trying to avoid the curious eyes from his boardinghouse family. "I like plaid."

"Obviously." I said as I skipped through the pages and saw one plaid shirt after the other. "Sheesh. Did you ever wear anything not plaid?"

"I did at the dances."

I skipped to the next page and saw Arnold in a tuxedo. "Oh, yeah…" I said and snickered. "A mini-Arnold in a tuxedo. So cute."

Arnold huffed in embarrassment while the boarders teased him. I couldn't help but stare at all the pictures of him in awe. So this was what he looked like as a child. I was in my own little world, barely noticing the bullying comments from the boarders that both I and Arnold got as we went through the photo album. What I did notice was that this seemed like a really happy home.

* * *

"And then Arnold and Gerald actually went to the haunted train station!" Phil said and laughed loudly with the other boarders. "I swear, that kid fell for everything I told him!"

I snickered as I looked at Arnold who was pouting in annoyance while tapping his fork on the plate. "I see nothing's changed around here." He mumbled to himself.

"He was a very naïve young man." Suzie agreed. "But he was such a good kid. He was always there for you, would listen to you and would give you advice."

"Why are you talking past tense?" I asked with a small frown.

Suzie made a small sound of realization and looked apolitically at Arnold. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to - - "

"Don't bother." Arnold interrupted with an understanding smile. "I know I'm not the saint I used to be."

Arnold's words made everyone silent. I watched them with a frown before I looked at Arnold again. "You may not be a saint, but you saved _me_ just the other day."

Arnold looked at me in awe for a moment and I looked back, refusing to belittle what he had done for me that day. The more I had thought about it, the more grateful I became. Arnold could have chosen to stay away to save his own skin; he technically hadn't owed me anything, but now I owed him much more than I could ever return. I never liked being in debt to people, but to Arnold it seemed like a fair trade for what he had done for me.

"Saved you?" Phil repeated and we looked at him. "Does that have anything to do with that sling on your arm?"

Arnold and I both looked at his sling, then at each other and then at nothing at all. We had hoped to avoid the subject, but now we had walked right into it. I looked at Arnold again, silently asking him if he wanted to open this can of words or not, but Ernie's voice cut through.

"Well, I'm done. Goodnight." He said and got off his chair. He nudged at Mr. Hyunh and he said that he was tired as well and followed Ernie.

"Why is everyone leaving? What's going on?" Oskar asked before Suzie sneaked her arm under his.

"Come on, Oskar. Let's leave them alone."

"But I'm still hungry!" Oskar complained.

"Oh, Oskar." Suzie sighed as she dragged him out of the dining room.

I looked back at Phil and Gertie who were waiting patiently for either myself or Arnold to start talking. I looked at Arnold, trying to figure out what he wanted me to do. "Should I… leave you alone for a bit?" I asked.

Arnold seemed like he wanted to say no, but then he thought about it and nodded. I stood up with a small smile and walked out of the room. I pushed the door, but left it open just enough for me to listen to them. I decided to go to the bathroom first though. I walked through the hallway, saying goodnight to the boarders that had yet to go into their rooms and observing everything around me. Sunset Arms was by no means a palace, but it had a warm and cozy feeling.

I walked into the bathroom and sighed heavily. _I hope it goes well_ , I thought and looked at myself in the mirror. My hand moved up to my cheek on its own. I touched the small cut Edmund had given me that day and I hoped fervently that Arnold had hurt him bad. We hadn't heard from them since so I assumed they had been thrown to jail.

I walked around in the bathroom aimlessly, trying to think of something to do or just think about while I let Arnold have some time alone with his grandparents. I quickly ran out of patience though and decided to head back. Once I was in front of the door, I considered knocking, but then heard what they were talking about.

"So… if you will let me, I'd like to move in again for the time being." Arnold said seriously.

"Of course. We'd love to have you back, Arnold." Phil said with a big smile. "We'll help you find a job too."

 _For the time being? A job? What are they talking about?_ I wondered and opened the door a little bit. I regretted it instantly because Phil saw me straight away. He just smiled at me though and pretended that he hadn't seen me.

"Thank you. It means a lot." Arnold told them. I couldn't see his face, but he sounded happy. "As soon as have enough money I'm moving out of Sunset Arms. I love this place, but I need to start over in order to move on."

My chin dropped to the floor at those words and Phil noticed. "You were planning to ask Helga to live with you though, right?" he asked casually and that made my jaw jump right back in its place, but I wasn't any less shocked.

"Yeah…" Arnold confirmed in a somehow confused voice. He had most likely just said that to them before I came so he was probably wondering why Phil wanted him to confirm it. "Helga wants to move out of her house as well and after seeing what her parents are like, I don't blame her. She's done so much for me so I want to help her get out of there as soon as possible."

"Arnold…" Phil said with a toothless grin. "This little girl is really important to you, isn't she?"

I could see Arnold jolt at the question, but he slowly relaxed. "Yes…" he said in a fond voice and I swooned on the inside.

"You should tell her!" Phil insisted and looked at me. Arnold shook his head though. "But, Short man - - "

"I will, grandpa. Just… not yet. Helga deserves better than what I am right now… When I've found my footing again, when I'm myself again… I'll tell her." Arnold said earnestly. "She doesn't deserve the guy I am right now, no matter what she says. She's an amazing person and I… am not. At least not anymore. I want to feel like me again before I tell Helga how I feel about her."

A bittersweet feeling filled my heart, but it was sweeter than it was bitter. Arnold had after all just confessed his feelings for me, albeit unknowingly, and I knew now for sure that they were mutual. I cared for Arnold much more than I had cared for anyone before and it both saddened and warmed my heart to hear that he wanted to become a better person for me.

I closed the door gently and then knocked on it as if I had just returned. "Can I come back in?" I asked.

"Sure." Arnold replied and I opened the door. I closed it behind me and sat down next to Arnold. "We just finished."

"So, is everything alright?" I asked casually.

"Yes, he told us everything." Phil said with a secret smile that I returned. "Arnold will come back to live with us so he doesn't have to mooch on Gerald anymore."

"And me." I added jokingly, but realized my mistake when Phil grinned.

" _You_?" he repeated and looked at Arnold who was redder than a tomato. I thought it was undeniably cute despite being embarrassed myself. "Have you been living in sin, Short man?"

"N-No! We haven't done anything wrong, grandpa!"

"Oh, sure. A pair of 16-year-olds sleeping in the same bed and not doing anything wrong. I've been young too, Short man!" Phil said and wiggled his eyebrows playfully. "Hey, I ain't judging!" he said when Arnold scowled at him. "Go show her your room, Arnold. Pookie and I are pooped after today. We'll go to bed too."

"Launch the torpedo!" Gertie declared with a manically laugh and ran out of the room as she pumped the air.

 _She's really something_ , I thought.

"What Gertie said." Phil said and neighed dirtily.

"Grandpa!" Arnold bellowed in embarrassment before Phil ruffled his hair again and left us alone. We looked at each other, but then looked away awkwardly. "Um… I-I'm not trying anything, but _do_ you want to see my room?"

"What? You don't have any ulterior motives?" I asked sarcastically. "How out of character."

"Helga…"

I stood up from the table. "Sure. I'd like to see the place you grew up." I replied and took his hand. With a smile he led me through the hallway. We walked up a few stairs and he opened the door to his room. My eyes widened at the sight. "What the hell! You have a skylight?!"

I let go of Arnold's hand and walked as I looked at the sky. I could hear Arnold chuckle. "That's the first thing everyone has always noticed." He said and looked around. "They've kept it just the way I left it."

"What did you expect?" I asked and looked around. "That they would turn it into a game room?"

"My grandma might have." Arnold replied jokingly and pointed at one of his walls. "Want to go to the roof?"

"We can go to the roof?" I asked in surprise and walked towards the wall. I noticed some steps and with a curious grin, I climbed them up to the window. I opened the hasp and crawled outside. I gasped in awe as I looked at the view of Hillwood. "This is amazing! I bet this place is a girl magnet."

"I don't know." Arnold answered casually and joined me as I leaned over the railing.

"Oh, come on. You're telling me you've never brought anyone up here?"

"Sure, for parties… but not just, you know… a girl." Arnold said almost shyly as he gazed at the city.

I smiled to myself. "I never would have thought that the guy showing up at my school for a fight would be a closet romantic."

"Don't remind me…" Arnold said with a small chuckle.

"You've changed so much in the short time I've known you." I said as I turned my back to the railing and leaned on it with my elbows.

"More like I'm changing back to who I was before all this." Arnold corrected and looked at me. "Grandpa and grandma said so too… that being around me felt like it did before Eduardo showed up."

"So, I _am_ already getting to know the real Arnold under that bad boy exterior." I replied thoughtfully. "Good to know."

Arnold was quiet for a moment before he said something that made me I almost flinch in surprise. "Thank you, Helga."

"For what?" I asked and he shot me a slanted look. "No, I'm serious. I don't think I've done anything spectacular."

"That's a pretty amazing thing to say considering that you just helped me reconcile with my grandparents."

"Well, I'm a pretty amazing person, Football Head."

"No arguments there." Arnold said and put his left arm over my stomach. He pulled at me until my left side was against his left side and we looked in each other's eyes. "Seriously… thank you."

"I… am not good with mushy thank you moments so I'm just going to say _you're welcome_ and leave it at that." I said casually and smiled at him. He smiled back at me, gazing at me for so long that I started to feel awkward. "Are you gonna kiss me or not?"

Arnold's eyebrows lifted in slight surprise, but then he smirked. "Are you that eager for me to kiss you?" he asked playfully.

I huffed. "Oh, please. You're the one who is always kissing me, not the other way around." I countered cockily.

"No, you're actually the one who has been kissing _me_ lately."

"I have not!"

"Yes, you have."

"Ok, if you're not gonna kiss me, I'll just - - " I said as I moved forward as if to start walking away. Arnold cut off my sentence by pulling me right back and pressing his lips against mine. I put my hand at the back of his head, minding his bruises as I did, and pressed him closer to me. I could feel that he wanted to use his right hand to hold me closer, but the sling held him back, so I stepped closer to him myself and let our bodies touch. Then I remembered Arnold's words from earlier and pulled back from the kiss. "I've decided…"

Arnold took a couple of breaths before he said anything. "Decided what?"

I smiled at him. "I'll be in that competition… and I'll win. Definitely." I said with resolution in my voice. _I want to move out of my house. And if all goes well, I'll live with Arnold if he ever gets the courage to ask me_.

Arnold smiled adoringly at me as his hand caressed my cheek and then lifted my chin. "With that much confidence there's no way you won't win." He said before he gave me one small peck on my mouth. "You're a pretty amazing person after all."

"Damn straight."

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: I don't know what to say! It's not ever yet though! So hang on xD Oh, and my 10 chapter plan is definitely shot xD I think it'll be 11 chapters instead ;D**


	10. We are just like two ribs

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Bad behavior"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **Helga finally managed to convince Arnold to go to Sunset Arms to talk with his grandparents, but when they got there, he chickened out and hid while Helga talked to them. After hearing what they had to say though, he appeared before them. Phil and Gertie, along with the rest of the boarders, welcomed both Arnold and Helga with open arms.**_

 _ **Later, Helga overheard Arnold telling Phil and Gertie that once he had enough money, he was planning to invite Helga to move in with him somewhere else. He needed to start anew and he wanted to help her get out of her toxic home. Arnold didn't know Helga had overheard, but she told him she wanted to participate in the amateur poetry contest he had found for her in order to earn some money herself.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I don't know what to say! Enjoy! xD**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 10: "We are just like two ribs"

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Patty asked me as she gave me my history book.

"Short of finding a unicorn and injecting me with its blood so I can become more creative, I don't see what it would be." I responded as I put the book in my backpack.

"You clearly have an imagination though. A unicorn." Rhonda said as she rolled her eyes.

"Would a pony be an agreeable substitute?" Phoebe joked heartily and I stuck my tongue out at her.

"My biggest problem is gonna be staying awake. The deadline is tomorrow at 7am and I have to work first too. I don't even know what I want to write about."

"Can't you use one of your other poems?" Nadine asked.

I shook my head. "It has to be at least a hundred words and I've never written more than fifty."

"When are you off work?" Patty asked me with a somehow worried look on her face.

I shrugged. "It's my first day so I'm gonna stay there as long as they want me to. And since I'm handling the phones I might not get home until midnight."

"You're gonna have to pull an all-nighter if you want to get this done by the deadline." Rhonda said. "Helga, I don't think you can do this."

"What an ever so negative attitude." Lila bellowed. "I'm sure you can do it, Helga. If you put your mind to it, you can do anything."

"Thanks, Lila. But also thank you, Rhonda." I said.

"Why are you thanking _me_?"

"Because the thought of proving you wrong is the perfect extra incentive for me." I explained and Rhonda shot me a slanted look, but I just smiled sarcastically at her.

"I still don't understand." Sheena said thoughtfully. "How could you get a job from one day to the other at a place like Hillwood Medical Center?"

"Someone I know there put in a very good word for me. They hired me immediately." I explained. _Thank you, Dr. Bliss_.

"Lucky you." Rhonda said. "It's a sucky job though, isn't it?"

"I'm handling the phones, Rhonda Lloyd, I can think of way suckier jobs than that."

"I was referring to the late schedule."

"The longer I work the more money I'll own and the more money I own the quicker I'm getting out of that house."

"Sounds fair." Nadine said in a snicker. "Why the sudden rush though?"

"Uh, n-no reason." I insisted, but I could see that the girls didn't believe me. "Not telling."

"Oh, come on, Helga!" Patty said and nudged her elbow at me. "I think I can guess."

"How do you figure?"

"Well, you're unwilling to tell us, that's usually a sign that you think the reason is embarrassing… so I'm guessing Arnold has something to do with it."

"You _did_ just reconcile him with his grandparents…" Phoebe muttered thoughtfully. "Did something happen at their place?"

I looked between the two girls who were smirking at me knowingly. "Is my brain out for everyone to see? How the hell did you know?" I asked.

The other girls gasped while Phoebe and Patty gave each other a high-five. "Did he ask you to move in with him?!" Nadine asked with big eyes.

"He did, didn't he? Oh, that's ever so romantic!" Lila cried out happily.

"Who asked Helga to move in with him?" Harold's voice asked and I turned around to see the boys looking at us curiously.

"Do you guys have a radar or something?!" I asked in disbelief as they all started bombarding me with questions. I screamed at them to shut up and once they did, I explained what Arnold had said. I told them he hadn't asked me yet, but that he was apparently planning to as soon as he had enough money as well so I had decided to start earning some as well. I don't know what I had expected, but I know I had hoped they would have left it at that, but the questions kept coming. "I don't have time to feed your need for gossip." I told them and headed towards the door. "I have a job to go to."

* * *

"And that's all you need to know. Any questions?" the woman who had taken it upon herself to explain to me what to do at my new job asked me.

I blinked at her, trying to process all the information I had just been given. "Uh… I don't think so, but if I think of something later, what do I do?"

"You call me with this number." She responded and pointed to a piece of paper attached to the computer she had seated me in front of. "With your own cell of course. We don't want you blocking the line. Please repeated what I've told you so far."

"Answer the phone, check who the person is on the computer if they are already a patient here, if not I should ask them about their personal information and add them to our files. After that I'll add them to our schedule and make sure to save every time so that other computers can see what I have edited."

"And?"

"And, um… not fuck it up?"

"Watch your tongue, Miss Pataki. I don't care how you talk in your private time, but this is a medical facility so we expect you to be on your best behavior. But yes, don't mess things up." The woman said and then the phone rang. "Perfect. Let me watch you the first time."

"Remember it's my first time." I told her, took a deep breath and put the phone up to my ear. "Hillwood Medical Center, how can I help you?"

The woman nodded in acceptance of my performance so far and I listened to the man on the other side of the phone. As he talked, I opened the schedule on the computer and wrote his name in. After finding him I could see that he was a regular at the physiotherapist at the second floor and could see that his next time there was today.

"When would you like to reschedule, Mr. Jackson?" I asked and held the phone between my shoulder and my ear. I wrote on the computer as fast as I could and I could see the woman in my peripheral vision, looking at me with awe. "Yes, Mr. Jackson. I'll inform your physiotherapist about the rescheduling. Have a nice day."

After I hang up the phone I looked at the woman expectantly. She gave a small clap. "I'm impressed. Dr. Bliss was correct. How can such a young lady already touch type and so fast?"

I shrugged. "I write a lot on the computer." I answered honestly.

The woman nodded. "Well, if you continue to do what you did just before with this much speed we might just hire you full time."

I smiled. "I'll do my best then." I told her.

"Good luck." The woman told me before she walked away.

I sighed as I leaned back in the chair. _That woman is scary… but not too much_. I thought and looked at the phone when it rang again. This time it was someone who wanted to go to the heart clinic. While I wrote the new information in the schedule, I noticed Dr. Bliss approaching me with two cups in her hands. After hitting save I smiled at her and took the cup she offered me.

"How's your first day so far?"

"Pretty good. I was praised by your superior."

"Praise from her is basically a love confession. You must have done well."

"Apparently, it's a miracle to her that a 16-year-old can touch type." I responded before drinking from the cup and crunching my nose at the bitter taste. "Is this to make sure I stay awake?"

"Of course, Helga. It's not late just yet, but you can't be too careful."

I made a dry cough at the taste and shrugged. "My problem is gonna be later tonight. Once I'm done here, I need to get home and write a poem. I'm gonna participate in an amateur contest and I need the prize money."

"May I ask what all this is about, Helga?"

"You're my unofficial shrink, of course you can." I replied and looked around to make sure no one heard what I was going to say. "Arnold sorta asked me to move in with him."

"Really?" Dr. Bliss asked with a big grin.

"Well, sorta. It's a long story, but I made him go back to be with his grandparents and I overheard him telling them about the whole moving in together thing. He's gonna find a job and I figured I wanted to do the same. The competition was his idea, but he has no idea that I know what he told his old folks."

"Sounds like you and he made quite a process."

I touched my cheek, remembering Arnold kissing the cut Edmund had given me. "When someone saves you it kinda leaves an impression." I said dryly, but then smiled. "I trust him, Doc."

"I'm glad to hear that, Helga." Dr. Bliss said and looked at her watch. "Oh, I must go now. My next session will start in two minutes. Have a nice day, Helga."

"You too, Doc." I said and waved at her as she walked away. I leaned back in the chair and looked around on the desk. Everything was so organized and even though it was my first day, or rather evening, I could find my way around it all. It was a strange feeling to be working for the first time, but it wasn't a bad feeling. I just needed to get used to it.

* * *

"Yes, Miss Carlson, your time for tomorrow is still in our schedule. We will be expecting you." I told the woman on the phone for the third time and she finally seemed convinced. She told me goodbye and I hung up before she could change her mind. I exhaled very slowly and yawned right after. I looked at the clock and groaned when I realized that it was already 10pm. _Criminy, if I'm already this tired now, how am I gonna make it through the night? I have to start on that damn poem now_. I thought and grabbed a clean piece of paper and a pen. _I still don't know what to write about though…_

It felt like it had been forever since I had written a poem. I usually made them when I needed to get my emotions out, but I hadn't felt that need lately. My parents hadn't pissed me off recently and most of my time had been spent with Arnold and he didn't piss me off anymore. I frowned as I realized that I truly didn't know what to write about; I had no feelings bottled up inside of me that I needed to get out. I cursed my own name and leaned back in the chair again.

"I don't think that's proper work ethic." A male voice said and I jumped out of my chair. I was ready to apologize before I saw who it was in front of me. I frowned at him and he just grinned. "I just wanted to visit you at work."

"It's my first day. You really shouldn't be here." I scolded.

Arnold leaned forward and gave me a small peck on my lips and I couldn't help but smile at him. "Need more coffee?"

"So now you're my errand boy?" I questioned as I gave him my cup.

"I can't think of any other way to help you." He replied casually and walked to the coffee machine. "How is it going so far?"

I groaned as I put my hands in front of my eyes. "Some people are really idiots, I mean _seriously_. I just got off the phone with a woman who wanted to confirm her time tomorrow and I had to tell her three times that she was secured in the system before she finally hung up." I said and caressed my eyeballs.

"Some people are just a little paranoid."

"I'll say." I said as Arnold gave me the cup and I drank from it again. "This is really bad for my teeth."

"Coffee?"

"Uh-huh, but also because I'm drinking it slowly. Dentists agree that if you have to drink coffee, you should drink it quickly."

"I didn't know that."

"Well, Phoebe's my best friend and she's full of random knowledge." I told him as I put the cup back on the desk. "I have a splitting headache…"

"You poor thing." Arnold cooed and looked around before he walked around the desk.

"Bad idea, Arnold." I told him, but didn't stop him when he walked behind me and put his left hand on my head. He started massaging my scalp and I moaned. "Good idea, Arnold."

Arnold's fingers pressed down on my forehead and made circles around my scalp. I was in heavenly bliss when the phone rang. He didn't stop as I answered and even moved towards the computer. I did my best to focus on what the other person was saying while still enjoying Arnold's hand that had started traveling down my neck. Once I had finished talking, I hung up the phone and moaned again.

"You sound like you've worked here for years." Arnold said in awe and I could see that he was grabbing the extra barstool with wheels.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm a natural." I said dismissively and could hear him chuckle as he sat down on the stool behind me. He pressed his fingers into my skin just below my neck and I bit on my lower lip. Then my eyes opened in surprise and I leaned my head back. "Please don't start anything."

"Start anything? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, so it's a complete coincidence that your fingers are now under my tank top?"

"Hey, you're the one who has left your sweatshirt on the chair."

"It's hot in here!" I argued. "It's not an invitation for you to get grabby."

"You're still not pushing me away though." Arnold countered as his fingers traveled under my straps to get to my left shoulder.

I arched my back and moaned again. "Of course not. I have a headache and your fingers are doing wonders…"

"Uh-huh."

"What's that mean?"

"I don't think it's your head that's enjoying this." Arnold whispered in my ear and I shivered.

"Misophonia, Arnold." I reminded him, but it was a lie. Somehow, Arnold's whispering didn't trigger it as much as Brainy's breathing did. Perhaps it was only heavy breathing that bothered me and not whispering? I wasn't sure and I wasn't likely to go and try to find out.

"You're not angry with me yet, so I'm guessing that was a lie too." Arnold whispered before kissing the nape of my neck. I struggled to keep my moan down. "What's the chance someone is gonna walk in here this late?"

"Well, this isn't the main entrance and I'm not the one greeting the patients. You're the first one I've seen since Dr. Bliss came to say hello and - - hey, what are you planning?!" I asked in a keening voice when his hand traveled down to my lower back. I cursed the fact that this was a backless stool; if it hadn't been, he wouldn't have had the room to put his hands in such a promising position.

"I'm just planning to relieve you a little bit."

"Relieve me?" I repeated in disbelief.

"You're tired and stressed. I'm just doing my duty." Arnold explained and let his hand roam up my bare arm and to my shoulder.

"Your duty as my what?" I asked breathlessly, hoping to get a small confession out of him. I knew how he felt, but it wasn't like he had told me himself.

Arnold didn't answer me though and just started kissing me shoulders while his hand ran down my arm again and down to my thigh. I wasn't sure how I felt about the fact that I had chosen today of all days to wear jeans. It made his touch more palpable than if I had worn a skirt, but if I had worn one of my baggy pants, keeping my voice down wouldn't have been a problem. His dull fingernails scratched my thighs and I bit on my lower lip to hold down a chuckle.

"It tickles." I whispered desperately though I wasn't sure what I was desperate for.

"Tickles?" Arnold repeated as if he didn't believe me. "Are you sure ticklish is what you're feeling?"

"Oh, shut - - " I said, but then heard a pair of familiar heels. I was about to turn to tell Arnold to get the hell outta there, but he was already gone. I shrieked as I felt my chair being pulled forward and I looked down under the desk to see that Arnold had grabbed my legs so I was hiding him under the desk. The chair he had been using was already pushed back to its place and I told myself to ask him later how his reflexes had become so amazing.

"Miss Pataki?" my boss asked me and I smiled casually at her when she came into my vision. "Oh, good. I just wanted to check on you."

"How come?"

"Most new employees tend to feel very tired at this point in their first shift so I wanted to make sure you hadn't fallen asleep." She explained to me, clearly surprised that I was awake.

"Oh, I'm just fine actually. I have my coffee." I said and grabbed my cup for good measure. I hummed happily at the smell. "Coffee…" I muttered and drank from it. I could feel Arnold snickering against my legs and I kicked gently at him to tell him to keep quiet.

"That's good. You're doing very well, Miss Pataki." She said with a kind smile that almost seemed unnatural on her. I had a feeling that she didn't smile too often so it made me smile right back.

"Thank you, Mrs. - - " I said, but then felt something that made me freeze. _Oh, don't you dare!_ I thought when I felt Arnold's hand on one of my shins.

"Mrs. Beatty." The woman reminded me.

"Oh, yes. I know that." I insisted and showed her my cup of coffee again, ignoring Arnold's hands that were starting to massage my legs. "I'm just not used to drink so much coffee all at once so I think it's starting to affect my brain."

The phone rang at that moment and Mrs. Beatty smiled at me. "I'll let you get back to work." She told me and I grabbed the phone.

"Hillwood Medical Center, how can I help you?"

"Letting me out of your desk might be a start." Arnold's voice answered on the phone.

I looked down under my desk and saw him grinning at me while he had his phone pressed to his ear. I rolled my eyes. "Are you insane? You can't block this line!" I told him and hung up on him.

He chuckled as he got up from the floor and put his hand on my thigh. "You're awake now though, aren't you?"

"Yes, I was terrified that Mrs. Beatty would find you there! Go home, I'm begging you." I told him even though part of me wanted him to continue his relaxation session.

Arnold booed at me before he kissed me sweetly and walked around the desk. "Will you be alright by yourself?"

"As if I can fall asleep after that."

"Mission accomplished then." Arnold said playfully and waved at me.

"Say hello to Phil and Gertie." I told him and he nodded with his hand to tell me he had heard me. I smiled as I sighed and leaned back in the chair. Now that I had the time to think though, I felt something in my body I had felt before, but was still very unfamiliar. I rubbed my thighs together and thought that yes, there was no way I was going to fall sleep now.

* * *

"I'm home…" I said with a yawn to a house I already knew was asleep. Bob and Miriam probably hadn't even noticed that I hadn't come home. I used my foot to close the door behind me and yawned once more as I walked up the stairs. _What I wouldn't give just to go to bed…_ I thought as I looked at my phone, confirming that it was way past midnight. _No! Poem first_.

I put my hands in the air and waved my body from side to side for a moment before sitting in front of my computer. I had attempted to start a poem at work, but I had yet to figure out what I even wanted to write about. I turned my computer on and looked through my old poems. I wrote them in my notebooks, but I always wrote them into my computer too later on. I didn't want to risk losing them in case something happened to the books.

"Let's see…" I muttered as I read through my poems one by one. As I did so, I realized that I definitely had a theme going on. My poems were either about my parents, about anger in general, feeling less valuable in comparison to others and so on. "Man, I'm a sourpuss poet… which I guess isn't all that unusual."

I groaned as I leaned back in my chair for what felt like the hundredth time this evening. I was so tired and I needed my brain to tell me what to write. I stood up from my chair and looked around my room. I was desperately trying to think of something I could write about, something I could write _many_ words about. I lied down on my bed and stared at my ceiling, trying to think of something, but I could feel my eyelids getting heavier.

 _Get up,_ I told myself, but my body wouldn't move. My eyes closed on their own, but I opened them again with a gasp. _No! Come on! Think of something, anything; haven't… haven't Bob and Miriam done something horrible lately? Um… nothing but the usual… and I haven't even noticed them thanks to Arnold… Maybe I could write about what Wolfgang almost did, that's something powerful at least and a good way to get it out of my system…_

Even as I thought that, I knew it wouldn't work. The feelings I had felt when Wolfgang had tried to do that were powerful, but short-lived. There was no way I could dedicate a hundred words to that asshole so I dumped that idea in the trashcan where it belonged.

I lied down on my side, looking at the window instead. It was completely dark outside and I could see the stars twinkling in the sky. I thought of Arnold's skylight at Sunset Arms and smiled. It had really been beautiful and I wondered if he had been looking at them as he felt asleep tonight. I felt my eyes close again, but I didn't stop them this time.

 _I'm so tired… Maybe I should just sleep. It would feel so nice…_ I thought and felt my body relax completely. _To hell with the dumb poem. So what if I can't finish it? It doesn't matter. I don't care. I can't win anyway. I just don't have enough time…_

Just as I felt my body drift off, I felt a vibration on my thigh. My eyes shot up and I sat up, looking around in my room. I looked at my thigh and pulled my phone out. I rubbed my eyes as I read Arnold's name on the display. When I clicked on the text though, the message was empty.

"What the hell?" I thought and swung my legs out of the bed. I stretched them and felt my head fall forwards, but I whipped it back up. I looked at the empty text again. "Why did you send me an empty text, Football Head?"

I shook my head, deciding not to think too much of it. It had probably been by accident. I stood up and walked back to my computer, sat in front of it and created a new document. I stared at the blank paper for several minutes before I felt my eyelids close again. I pushed my keyboard away and put my head on the desk, fully intending to just take a small nap.

I shrieked when I felt my phone vibrate against my thigh again and I sat up straight. I pulled my phone out and Arnold had sent me another empty text. _What the hell is he doing?_ I thought and put it back in my pocket. _What is he trying to do? Get my attention just because?_

That particular thought caught my attention. I pulled my phone out again and stared at the empty text messages. I was pretty certain he wasn't in any trouble. After moving back with his grandparents, I was certain that his fighting days were over and with Wolfgang and his minions in jail, there was no way they had attacked him and Arnold was trying to get me to help him. So… what was up with the empty text messages?

Just as I thought that I got another text message from Arnold, empty once again. I stared at the empty texts in realization and a broad smile spread on my face. "You're staying awake with me…" I mumbled to the phone and pressed it against my chest. I could feel my entire body get warm and I felt so undeniably happy. _You're amazing_ … I thought and then looked at the empty document on my computer. I looked down at the phone and smiled as I pushed it into my pocket and started writing.

Arnold wrote an empty text to me dutifully every ten minutes and I started sending empty texts back to tell him that his plan was working. I was smiling like a fool every time I got a text, but I was completely focused on what I was typing. My fingers were dancing on the keyboard, but I calculated every word that I wrote. I wanted this poem to truly speak my feelings; not just for the sake of the money, but because I knew I was going to have to show this to Arnold. There was no way he would let me have this poem stay private so I made sure to re-read the poem ten times and edit it before I finally sent it to the website at 5am.

I took out my phone and wrote to Arnold that I was done. As soon as I was lying on my bed, I got another text from him. This time it wasn't empty, but said good job and sleep well. I decided that skipping one day of school couldn't be so bad and fell asleep immediately.

* * *

"Helga, this is…" Phoebe said as she and the other girls read through my poem. I had printed it out the next day and taken it with me to school. The other girls had insisted upon reading it, but I didn't like it. My poems were private and this was the first poem I had written about anything else but anger and betrayal.

"It's what? Come on, spit it out!" I told them in frustration. "Is it horrible? It's too weird, right? I mean the rules said the theme could be whatever and we could choose the style too. I've never written a poem that didn't include rhyming so maybe I should have just stuck to what I know - - "

"Helga!" Patty interrupted and I gulped. "This is creepy… like, deep creepy. It's good."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely!" Sheena interfered and grabbed the paper. "This is dark and twisted and yet… it ends on a somehow happy note. I never knew that you could write stuff like this."

"Not sure if that's a compliment."

"It is perhaps too dark and too real for me, but I do think it has an ever so big chance at winning." Lila insisted. I looked at her skeptically, but she nodded. "I do! Just ever so much."

I sighed as I took the paper again. "Thanks, girls… it'll take forever before I find out whether I've won or not though. Well, a week, but it feels like forever." I said with a tense chuckle. "Now I just need to show this to Arnold…"

"What do you think he's going to say?" Patty asked as she leaned over her chair, which she had turned around so the back of it was against her chest.

I shrugged. "I really don't know… I mean, I don't think is offensive to him, right? It's just as offensive to me if it is…" I mumbled and bit on my lower lip. "Maybe I'll show him something else and pretend that's the poem I sent in."

"Never took you for a chicken." Rhonda said crudely and I sneered at her.

"I'm not a chicken. I just… don't want to rock the boat."

"Chicken."

"Am not." I insisted, but then Rhonda lifted her arms and waved them while clucking like a chicken. "Ok, fine! I'll show it to him! Sheesh!"

I could see Nadine nudging at Rhonda, silently congratulating her for winning in an argument with me. I just rolled my eyes and scanned the poem once more. It really truly was very much out of my comfort zone. I wasn't even sure if it was all that good and I feared Arnold's reaction.

"Hey, Helga!" Sid yelled as he looked out of the window. "Lover boy is here!"

"Quelle surprise." Rhonda said sarcastically.

I ran to the window and looked down at the street. Arnold was standing down there and looking up at me when I appeared. He waved somehow sheepishly and I waved back with a stupid smile on my face. I could hear the boys snickering, but I ignored them. Arnold gestured for me to come down and I nodded at him.

"Guess it's now or never." I said as I grabbed my backpack and threw it over my shoulder. "Wish me luck."

"You don't need luck." Patty insisted as I ran away.

I was laughing all the way through the hallway and I slid down the railing until I reached the doors. I ran all the way to Arnold and he lifted his left arm when I reached him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, minding his shoulder as much as I could, but he lifted me off the ground and swung me around. I laughed happily as he put me down and kissed him. It had become so easy to show affection after I had overheard his conversation with his grandparents. I'd just wish he would say something to _me_. But I hadn't said anything either so I didn't want to be selfish.

Arnold leaned away from the kiss and coughed awkwardly. I looked up and saw my classmates either laugh or make funny faces at us. I groaned before I flipped them the bird and then took Arnold's left hand. We started walking down the street and I desperately tried to hide the poem in my left hand, but he saw it.

"Is that the poem you sent in?" Arnold asked curiously and looked over my shoulder.

"Uh… y-yes."

"And I'm not allowed to see it?" Arnold asked in a somehow hurt voice and I hated how much so little got to me.

"It's not that. It's just… I'm not sure what you'll think."

"Am… I in it?"

"Kind of. Sort of. Definitely." I finally admitted and gulped nervously.

Arnold gave a lopsided smile. "And is it bad?"

"No! I mean… I'm not insulting you or anything, but I'm not exactly praising either one of us so - - "

"Whoa, is it about _us_?" Arnold asked and stopped walking. "Now I _have_ to see it."

"I-It's not like that, I just… I just _wrote_ , ok?" I said and offered it to him. "Don't judge me too hard."

Arnold took the paper and looked at me suspiciously. I looked at the poem over his shoulder and read it in my head.

 _The street is your playground_

 _You're its king, it's your palace_

 _Life is a game whatever you say_

 _And you're just a toy in their game_

 _You are just like a rib_

 _No one can bend your shape, you're too strong_

 _You are just like a rib_

 _If they try to straighten you out, you will crack_

 _I want to be rich_

 _I want to be free_

 _Without owing as much_

 _As a smile_

 _I am just like a rib_

 _No one can bend my shape, I'm too strong_

 _I am just like a rib_

 _If they try to straighten me out, I will crack_

 _I had so little and as did he_

 _I let myself get hustled_

 _I didn't see it coming_

 _But now we're finally free_

 _We are just like two ribs_

 _No one can bend our shape, we're too strong_

 _We are just like two ribs_

 _If they try to straighten us out, we will crack_

I looked at Arnold, waiting for a reaction, but he decided to read it again it seemed. My feet were starting to trip as I waited for him to finish reading. I finally reached my limit and grabbed the paper. He looked at me in surprise, but he didn't try to take it back. My breathing went ragged as he just looked at me and I could feel myself shaking.

"I don't mean anything weird by it, you know…" I told him and threw the paper in a nearby trashcan. "That rib thing… i-it just came to me and seemed like a good metaphor at the time. And I didn't mean anything about you being king of the streets. I know that's not you, but I was thinking about how I thought you were when I just met you a-and - - "

Arnold stopped my sentence by stepping forward, putting his left hand on my cheek and kissing me. I gasped into the kiss, but accepted it eagerly. I wasn't sure what it meant, but I hoped it meant that he didn't hate me. When he ended the kiss, he kissed my forehead once and then smiled at me.

"You're gonna have to say what you're thinking, Football Head. I'm totally freaking out." I told him and he chuckled which made me slap his chest. I wasn't in the mood to be kept in the dark.

"Helga, you know I'm not good at reading between the lines, but it doesn't seem to me that you offended either of us in any way. I'm actually a little honored that you think of me as that strong and willful. A rib." He said and chuckled at the word. "Good one."

I sighed heavily. "I was so scared what you'd think. I'm not exactly praising us even if I'm not insulting us either. I was just… honest, I guess." I admitted and put my cheek on his shoulder.

Arnold put his chin on my head. "I think you'll win. Definitely."

I smiled fondly at him. "Me too… I want to move out as soon as possible." I said.

"I want you out of there soon too." Arnold said and I could feel the hidden meaning behind his words, but I didn't question him about it. I could wait, but not forever.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: Helga's poem is not technically made by me. It was heavily inspired by a Danish play based on Carmen called "Carmen 2000" which was basically a modern interpretation. The poem I made is based on the lyrics in two different songs from the play. I just heard the CD the other day and thought these particular lyrics made sense for what had happened for Arnold and Helga in this story and decided to add it in :P**


	11. If I don't already love you

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Bad behavior"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **After Helga had overheard Arnold telling his grandparents that he would ask Helga to move in with him in the future, she decided to not just take a job, but to enter an amateur poetry competition. After a long first day at work, she had to pull an all-nighter in order to finish the poem in time. Thanks to Arnold she made it through the night. She was nervous about showing him the poem, but he was honored that she had been inspired by him. Now all the blonde teenagers could do was to wait for the reply.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I am so sorry that this one took so fucking long; so many things have been happening these days because of people graduating and people coming to visit from other countries and ugh xD But here it is! OwO**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Chapter 11: "If I don't already love you"

I ran down the stairs the moment I heard the doorbell. I wasn't entirely sure why he decided to go through the front door, it was a bad idea since my parents were home, but I was hoping I could reach him before they would see him. As I ran down the stairs though, I saw Bob opening the front door. I cursed as I saw Arnold come face to face with my dad.

"Hello, Mr. Pataki." Arnold said and held out his hand.

"We don't want anything." Bob replied and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not selling anything. I know your daughter." He said and leaned to the side to look at me.

 _What are you doing?!_ I shouted inside my head, but smiled casually when my dad turned to look at me.

"Isn't this the guy from the Hillwood Buffet?" Bob asked as he gestured rudely at Arnold.

 _Oh, great. He recognizes him_. I thought and approached them. "Yes, it is." I answered as casually as I could, but I was shaking on the inside.

Bob looked between us for a moment. "Did he knock you up?"

"No!" Arnold and I shouted at the same time and looked awkwardly at each other. "Mr. Pataki," Arnold said. "I have nothing but respect for your daughter and - - "

"That's the same thing I said about her mother back when she got pregnant with Olga." Bob interrupted and I felt my heart clench.

 _Thanks for that, pops_. I thought and sighed. "Well, Arnold hasn't… knocked me up." I insisted.

"Good, because I'm not gonna support a bastard child." Bob said and closed the door behind Arnold. "Why are you here, boy?"

"Um… may I talk to your daughter first before I answer?" Arnold asked kindly and gestured to me. Bob rolled his eyes dramatically, but walked inside the living room to leave us alone. I looked at Arnold in disbelief, but he just took my hands. "Helga, I want to introduce myself to your dad."

"You already did, you psycho!" I hissed.

"No, I mean… Helga, I'm in love with you." Arnold said nervously and I flinched at the words. It wasn't like I didn't already know, I wasn't blind, but to actually hear him say it sent my heart soaring. "And I want to meet your dad… if you feel the same way that is."

"How can you even ask that?" I asked as if I was angry, but then I smiled broadly at him and pecked his lips. He smiled at me, but then I scowled. "Meeting my parents is still a really bad idea though."

"I don't care if they don't approve. I want to be open an honest about my feelings for you, something I haven't been so far. And I want to tell your parents… please?" Arnold asked me.

I groaned. "It's your funeral…" I muttered in pseudo-acceptance. Arnold smiled at me, kissed my cheek and took my hand. I followed him into the living room where Bob was seated next to Miriam whom had obviously just woke up. He had probably been nudging at her to force her out of her sleep.

"Helga? Who is this young man?" Miriam asked when she saw Arnold and then yawned.

I looked at Arnold nervously, but collected my courage. "He's my boyfriend and I want you to meet him." I said and made a mental flip at the word _boyfriend_. Somehow it sounded so wrong and yet I didn't know what other word to describe him.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Pataki." Arnold said politely. He seemed calm, but I could feel his hand tightening around my own.

"I thought you said he wasn't your boyfriend?" Bob asked.

"He wasn't… back then. He has become my boyfriend since that." I explained.

Bob shook his head as if he was confused while Miriam smiled tiredly at us. "Well, that's great, Helga. He seems like a nice young man."

"Shows how much she knows." I whispered to Arnold who bumped his elbow against mine as if he was insulted, but I could see the smile on his face.

"Well, like I said, young lady; your private life is none of my business. Just don't do something stupid you can't undo." Bob said dismissively. "Like that bastard child I talked about before."

"Don't worry about that. I've been on birth control since I was 13-years-old. Remember? You signed some papers and all that?" I asked, but Bob clearly wasn't listening anymore. He had grabbed his newspaper and Miriam had fallen asleep again. "That went easier than expected."

"Almost a letdown."

"Count your blessings." I told Arnold as I pulled him with me out of the living room. "Speaking of which, I fail to see your sling?"

"I got it off just today." Arnold said and moved his arm a bit. "It's still fairly useless though."

"You can move it at least."

"But I can't grab things." Arnold said and reached for my hand. I gave it to him and he tried to squeeze it, but it was obviously painful. "See?"

"Baby steps." I told him, squeezed his right hand before letting go and then opened the door to my room. He walked inside and pulled me with him. I noticed a cheeky smile on his face. I smiled back suspiciously. "What?"

"You owe me something."

"Excuse me? Like what?"

"You've seen pictures of me when I was a child… I want to see pictures of you too." Arnold explained with almost childlike curiosity in his eyes.

"I don't know…" I said teasingly. I could see how much he wanted to see them and I couldn't help but want to bully him a little bit first. "You have to convince me first."

"And how do I do that?"

I shrugged. "Try me." I challenged, trying to contain my anticipation for what he might come up with. Something in his eyes seemed to change though; he seemed nervous all of a sudden and I looked at him in confusion. "I just want a kiss…" I said almost apologetically.

Arnold exhaled as if in relief before pecking my lips gently and then smiling at me expectantly. I wanted to ask him if that was really it. He had finally told me he had feelings for me, we were alone in my room and now he decided to become shy? I decided to let it go though, there might have been more to it after all, so I patted his head as if I was praising a dog. I then walked to the door leading to the attic. I went inside, grabbed one of the photo albums and walked back to Arnold.

Arnold was sitting on my bed, smiling expectantly as I opened the photo album. "Is that you?" he asked and pointed at a baby photo. I nodded in embarrassment and he chuckled before going to the next page. He was seemingly quiet as he continued looking at the pictures. He didn't react until he saw a picture of me as a 13-year-old. "You were cute even back then."

I looked at him in disbelief. "You like little girls?"

Arnold stared at me in shock. "No!"

"You just called a 13-year-old me _cute_!"

"That's because it's _you_!" Arnold insisted and waved his hand at my head. He clearly wanted to hit me for real – albeit as a joke, but made do with that.

"Still, that's a picture of a little girl and you're a pervert for saying she's cute." I insisted and put the photo album away. Arnold was about to argue against me before I put my hands on his shoulders. I used him as leverage, minding his right shoulder as I did, while I sat down on his lap, fully enjoying the look of shock on his face. "I'm not that little girl anymore."

I leaned forward to kiss Arnold and I heard him make a small uncomfortable sound. I ignored it and used my tongue to encourage him to part his lips. He gasped and I let my tongue entwine with his softly, hoping to calm his nerves I wasn't sure where was coming from. He had been so confident so far, forceful even. I could tell how fast his heart was beating, but there was something holding him back. I pulled back from the kiss, noticing how his head moved with me as if he didn't want to let go and thereby confirming that he definitely wanted me.

"Where did all your confidence go…" I started as my fingers ran from his temple and down to his chin. "back from when you asked me if you could _pursue_ me?"

Arnold seemed a little shy as his hands made shapeless patterns around my hips. He clearly wasn't too keen on looking me in the eyes at the moment. "I was acting." He told me sincerely.

"Acting?" I repeated in confusion.

Then Arnold looked at me. "I pretended to be cool and confident about it. You taught me that; _by pretending for long enough it becomes the truth_ … remember?" he asked me.

My eyes widened when I recognized those words. "I told you that at the class party… You took it seriously." I stated and Arnold shrugged. I smiled fondly at him. "So I taught you something with a few words that took me my whole life to learn. Oh, the cleverness of me."

Arnold huffed as I caressed my nose against his, clearly embarrassing him while doing so. "You're not exactly helping."

"Did you really think I would?" I asked before putting my hands on his cheeks. "So all that confidence was an act?"

"Both yes and no. I mean, the confidence was an act, but the things I did wasn't."

I hummed in understanding. "So, in reality you're still that shy fourth grader who was practicing saying hello to the girl you were crushing on?"

"How did you - - "

"Gerald." I explained curtly.

Arnold groaned. "I'm gonna kill him…" he muttered angrily. I chuckled at the clear sulk on his face and leaned forward to kiss him at the corner of his mouth. As soon as I did, he moved his lips closer to mine, albeit still timidly. I cupped his cheeks and pressed myself closer against his body. He sighed through his nose as he wrapped his own arms around me and it pained me to feel the clear difference in strength from the left and the right arm. I knew he was going to his physical therapy loyally though so I told myself he would soon be able to hold me as strongly with one arm as with the other.

"Hey…" I whispered against Arnold's lips. "Where do your scars end?"

Arnold leaned back in slight surprise. "Where they end?"

"Yeah… I couldn't see them properly back then and you've been hiding under the covers when you sleep here…" I said gently. I could see the uncertainty in Arnold's eyes and I knew he wanted to look away by the way his head was twitching. I put my hand on his arm, caressing it gently and he shivered. "Am I not allowed to see them?"

The moment I had said those words, as seductively as I could, Arnold took my hand and removed it from his arm. He looked at me with determination before he pulled his t-shirt off his torso. I leaned back and looked him over, but the first thing I noticed wasn't the scars. His chest wasn't just toned, it was muscular. Though he wasn't too burly the same way body-builders were; he was Adonis-like perfection in my eyes.

I couldn't help but drinking the vision of Arnold and my hand caressed the surgery scars on his arm. He seemed oddly self-conscious when I did that, but I leaned down and kissed his biceps adoringly, showing him that the scars didn't matter one bit to me. I would never admit it, but if I hadn't know the sad story behind them, I might have thought they were kind of hot. They certainly did wonders to the bad boy image that had been slowly crumbling in my mind the more I got to know him.

I could feel Arnold inhale the scent of my hair and it sent a shiver down my spine. I continued kissing down his arm and I grabbed his hand once I had reached his wrist. I turned his hand around in mine and held it as I kissed his palm. I felt his fingers curl at my temple and I opened my eyes to look at him. He was looking at me with awe; it was an intoxicating stare and I couldn't help but continue kissing him on his chin and down his Adam's apple. I could feel him lean his head back to give me room and I felt so oddly powerful as I kept kissing him wherever my lips led me to.

Arnold seemed to lose his patience because I suddenly felt him grab me around my hips and hoisted me closer up on his lap. I didn't get the chance to be surprised for long before he started showering my neck in kisses. I grabbed his blonde tuffs of hair as he licked my neck and I made a keening moan I didn't know I was capable of making. A part of me felt awkward as he continued to kiss me down my chest, but the bigger part of me enjoyed it to the fullest.

Then Arnold stopped so suddenly that I gasped. He looked at me with pain in his eyes and for a moment, I thought it was because his arm was hurting. "Oh, man…" he said and let his forehead rest on my breasts. "It sucks that I have to go to work now…"

"You got a job?" I asked in surprise.

Arnold nodded against my chest and I had to hold back a chuckle because his hair was tickling me. "Yeah, at Bigal's Café." He told me and my thighs tightened around his waist as I held back my laughing. "Hey, no squeezing; I just said I had to go."

"You're tickling me!" I explained and he whipped his head back, grinning at me. He said he was sorry, but he obviously didn't mean it. After wishing him luck and giving him a kiss-goodbye, Arnold left me alone in my room. _Good luck_ , I thought as I spread myself on my bed.

* * *

I stretched my arms as I pushed my shoes off my feet. I had just come home from work and it was midnight once again. I didn't feel as I tired as I had the others nights, but I figured my body was getting used to it. I walked up the stairs and went inside my room. It was completely dark, but I decided to put my phone away before turning the lights on. As soon as I reached for the contact though, I felt something grab me in the darkness. I opened my mouth to scream, but it was covered by a larger hand than mine. There was little to no strength in the hold though, but the arm that was wrapped around my stomach was strong.

"Surprised?" a male voice asked in my ear and I felt a hot tongue lick my neck. I keened at the feeling and tried to talk, but the hand held my mouth securely. My hips moved on their own in a week attempt at getting loose, but the person behind me simply moaned when my pelvis touched his. It was my turn to moan when the hand holding my stomach lifted and grazed my breast gently. The muffled sound I had made clearly spurred the person behind me on and soon my right breast was covered by a hand.

I groaned at the feeling of my breast being caressed before I turned us both around and slammed him against the wall. He let go of me and I turned to look at him. "Are you insane?" I asked with a look of disbelief, but I felt the corners of my mouth rising once I had confirmed who my pseudo-attacker was.

Arnold smirked at me. "No, I just realized that I was wrong." He told me as he approached me.

"About what?" I asked as I stepped back, feeling my entire body aflame with excitement.

"I'm not that shy little boy anymore."

I grinned at those words, but I shrieked when Arnold lunged for me. I managed to move out of his range though and I grabbed him around his waist to tackle him to the ground. Once his chest was flat against my floor, I pushed at his shoulders and licked at his neck. I could hear him moan as I bit on his earlobe.

"So now you're looking for a fight again, huh?" I whispered hotly in his ear and grinded against his back. He groaned at the feeling of me moving to cover his body with my own. I grabbed at his t-shirt and pulled it over his head. Despite his struggling against me, I got the t-shirt off easily. It was a dirty trick to use his right arm against him, but I wasn't known for playing fair. I grabbed him by his left shoulder and turned him around so that I could see his face. "Taking a little break?"

Arnold smirked at the familiar words before he grabbed me by my hips and placed me on his lap. We both moaned loudly when he bucked up against me and I realized how turned on I already was by the whole thing. Who would have known that I had a masochistic streak as much as a sadistic one?

Arnold pulled me down to him, kissed me forcefully for a moment before he pushed me. I flew up into the air for just enough time for him to manage to turn me around so that my back was against his chest. He didn't try to restrain me with his legs like he had back when we first met, but instead put his hands on my body. I wiggled as his hands grabbed my breasts and I couldn't help but moan at the feeling. I had left my sweatshirt in the hallway so I was once again only wearing a tank top along with baggy pants.

Arnold's hands crept under my tank top, pulling it up as his hands went on top of my breasts again. I leaned my head back, marveling in the feeling as one of his hands went between his chest and my back. He opened my bra and copied what I had shown him some time ago; he got my bra off under my tank top and threw it somewhere. With his hands now touching my bare chest, it was even harder to keep my voice down. He let his right hand travel down my stomach while the left stayed on my breast, starting to focus more on my nipple.

I started moving my legs, trying to recover enough strength to pull away from Arnold, but I was completely useless against his touch. I tried to get some revenge by grinding my ass against his crotch and he could definitely feel that. I could feel him reacting to my advantages; his skin got sweaty, his breathing ragged and something lewdly hard was pressing against me.

I managed to get myself up from Arnold's chest, but I didn't get very far. Once I was sitting on his lap with my back still turned to him, I felt his hands digging into the soft skin between my pelvis and thighs. He held me there as he lifted his hips and rolled them under mine. I put my hands on his thighs, shivering from all these new sensations I was feeling.

With a rough yank, I felt Arnold place my thighs over his chest and he bit on my thigh. I keened in surprise and my fingers, which had landed on thighs, dug into his flesh. Wanting to get revenge, I unbuckled his belt and started pushing his pants down. I could hear him talk behind me and I looked at him over my shoulder, moving my hips away so that I could see him. I gave him a look that asked him if he had been saying anything worth my time.

"Eager, are we?" Arnold asked with a breathless grin.

"Says the one who is already rock hard." I countered and let my fingers travel down his bulge for effect. I could hear him hold back a groan, but I was determined to get a proper moan out of him. I figured it would be easy with him already much more naked than me so I sneaked my fingers under the hem of his boxers, fully intending to touch him for the first time.

Arnold wasn't ready to give up though. I realized that when he grabbed me by my hips and threw me to the side. In the process he had gotten my jeans down my hips and before I could recover from the fall, he had pulled them off completely. I turned around, planning to crawl away, but he grabbed my thighs and pulled me back to him. I moaned loudly when I felt his body cover mine entirely and I looked down at his hands that were next to mine on the floor. He felt so big all of a sudden and I couldn't help but breathing heavily in anticipation.

I stayed calm as Arnold put his left hand on my stomach. He left a trail of goosebumps as he went lower and I bit back a moan when his hand was between my thighs. I connected my legs, trying to save some dignity, but it was no use. As he started moving his hand, all I could think of was how much I wanted to let him do whatever he pleased. As I thought that, his hand went inside my panties and I arched my back in surprise. I put one of my hands up to my mouth to hold back my moaning; I didn't want to risk my parents hearing me and walk in on us.

Arnold used his free hand to move my hand away though. "Nu-uh," he told me. "I want to hear you."

Arnold licked my neck and I shivered once again. Deciding I was done with this game, I looked at him over my shoulder and kissed him. The gesture surprised him, his hand stopped moving and he focused on reciprocating the kiss. I smirked internally when I knew I had distracted him and then I pulled away from him. Arnold looked at me in surprise as I wrapped my arms under his armpits and lifted him into the bed. He didn't fight me as I straddled him and forced his arms up to his head. I grinned superiorly.

"I win." I stated breathlessly.

It took Arnold a moment, but then he smiled adoringly at me. "You win… You can have your wicked way with me." he told me. "Once you've taken your top off that is."

"As soon as I let go you're attacking me again, aren't you?"

"No way. Not if you promise to have your wicked way with me."

I bit on my lip in thought, wondering if Arnold was being sincere or not. I decided that he did in fact look a little tired so I let go of his wrists. I waited for him to grab me, but when he didn't, I lifted my top off my body. I threw the top away, shook my hair loose and put my hands on his chest as I looked at him. He was looking at me with awe and it both excited and frightened me all the same; I felt so shy in the reflection of his eyes.

Arnold put his palm against my back and pushed my down until my breasts were in front of his eyes. Without any warning he kissed my right nipple and I made a small sound that turned into a high-pitched moan when he bit on it. I put my hand up to my mouth in shock and Arnold looked at me, slightly startled from the sound I had just made. I looked at him, sincerely hoping he couldn't see the blush I was sure was spreading all over my face. I knew my breasts were sensitive, I may have been a virgin, but not completely innocent, but the difference between your own fingers and someone's tongue was greater than I had imagined.

Arnold gave me a smirk that could only mean everything good or everything bad, depending on how you looked at it, and pulled me back down. I begged him not to do it, but his mouth licked my left nipple and I made the same sound again. I tried to cover my mouth, but I couldn't stay above him if I did that so I was forced to accept this bittersweet pleasure. I bit on my lip harder and harder as he got more eager, clearly wanting to hear me moan louder. I was struggling to keep my voice down and finally I had to pull away completely from him.

Arnold looked at me like a kid that had just had his lollipop taken away from him, but I didn't care. I moved my hands behind me and started pulling on his boxers. When he realized what I was doing, he lifted himself off the mattress to help me and soon he was naked under me. I was deeply tempted to look at him to take everything in, but he started pulling on my panties and I figured I could wait a moment.

Once I was as naked as Arnold, I straddled him once again, staring at him in awe. He was looking at me with eyes filled with emotions. I knew this was it and I was terrified and excited all at the same time. I shut my eyes, trying to collect courage to do what was next, but then I felt something on my cheek. When I opened my eyes, I saw that Arnold was smiling at me while cupping my right cheek. I knew what he was telling me even without me asking and the sweet gesture spurred me on.

With resolution in my eyes, I touched Arnold's hardened flesh in an attempt at moving it inside me. His hand on my cheek flinched and for a moment, I thought I had hurt him, but then he moved his hand over mine and guided me. I was shaking once we had reached our goal and I took a deep breath before I let myself fall down on him. It hurt more than I had imagined and when I realized that only his head was inside, I groaned stubbornly and let myself fall the rest of the way down.

I gasped in pain and leaned forward until my forehead hit Arnold's chest. He was breathing heavily, clearly just as affected by this feeling as I was, but he put his hands on my back, caressing me soothingly as I tried to get used to the feeling of him inside me. I could see my hands shaking on his chest and it bugged the living hell out of me. I told myself not to be such a girl and sat up. He looked at me a little worriedly before I took another deep breath and started moving.

The first minute or so was painful and I made a mental note to apologize to Phoebe for calling her a wimp when she had told me how much it hurt. But as Arnold started moving with me, rocking me gently rather than thrusting, I felt my desire return to me and I moved out of my own free will. His hands, which were holding my hips, gave me a sense of security. I felt so confident on top of him, despite how absolutely vulnerable I knew I was. If he decided on it, he could leave me right then and leave me with a scar that would never heal. But he just looked at me with those emerald eyes and I knew that he felt as vulnerable as I did.

Not completely sure why, I leaned down to kiss Arnold, but kept my eyes open. I wanted to stare at his green eyes and he was gazing at me as if hypnotized. He shut his eyes tight though when I bit on his lower lip. I didn't bite hard, but I licked it soothingly afterwards. He inhaled sharply and let his head fall back, exposing his throat to me. He was mouthing something and it took me a second before I understood what was about to happen.

I sat back up and rocked furiously. Arnold seemed ready to burst, but with some last resolve I didn't know where he got from, he put his left hand against my sex and started rubbing. I shrieked in surprise, but put my hand over my mouth to keep myself quiet. I considered pushing his hand away because I wasn't sure if I could keep quiet if I reached an orgasm in this situation, but I was already too close to go through with the action. Biting on my lips harshly, I surrendered to the feeling. I didn't even notice when Arnold had completely taking over our movement and eventually let me fall down on his chest again.

I breathed heavily as I rolled off Arnold and gave us both the room to breathe. Once I had caught my breath again, I chuckled. "I never thought my first would be so… intense." I admitted bluntly.

"M-Me neither…" Arnold stuttered and turned his face to look at me. I looked at him as well and smiled. "Sorry about… dropping by unannounced."

"A little late for that, isn't it?"

"Just thought I'd show you that I'm still as well-mannered as ever."

"Says the boy who just broke into my room to screw me senseless."

"I was being spontaneous." Arnold said as if that was a proper excuse. I chuckled, too tired to argue against him. "Come here."

"For what?" I asked suspiciously. Arnold reached for my arm and pulled at me until I was lying in the crook of his neck. He kissed my head and snuggled up to me. I couldn't help but laugh. "So you're a cuddler."

"Is that bad?"

"No…" I admitted and closed my eyes. I could feel myself dozing off before I realized something. "Wait!"

"What? _Is_ it bad?" Arnold asked as his eyes sprung open. He had clearly been about to fall asleep as well so I had scared him when I suddenly spoke again.

"What? No, no, not that!" I said and sat up on my elbow. I opened my mouth to speak, but then suddenly got nervous. Arnold looked at me with his beautiful green eyes though and I couldn't help but feel completely sure about what I was about to say. "I love you, Arnold."

Arnold blinked a couple of times before his eyes widened. Besides that, he didn't move. Not at all, not even a little bit, and that made me kind of nervous. I wondered if it was too soon or too cheesy to say it right after the first time we had sex. I wondered if he felt the same. I wondered all these things and more, but I could hear myself start talking despite my thoughts being one big mess.

"What I mean is… if what I'm feeling for you isn't love, if I'm too young to really know what love is or if I haven't known you long enough then I'm at least really close… If I don't already love you I think that I _will_ someday…" I said and gulped right after. Arnold didn't seem to have completely snapped out of it when he put his hand on my cheek and muttered something. I couldn't hear what he said, so I knitted my eyebrows together. "What?"

"Say it again…"

I felt my cheeks flush when Arnold said those words. "I… love you." I repeated and felt embarrassment flow through my veins.

"Again." Arnold requested with a small smile.

I frowned stubbornly. "I love you."

"Again."

"I love you!" I screamed in disbelief and when he told me to say it again, I repeated it five times before he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me on top of him. He hugged me tightly and I could hear him laugh happily. "What the hell kinda reaction is that?!"

"I'm sorry; I just didn't think I'd be this happy." Arnold explained and loosened his grip on me. I huffed, relieved as air filled my lungs again and then leaned up to smile at him. "I love you too." he told me without any hesitation. "And if I don't already, I know that I will in the future."

As I felt my heart skip a beat only to start pumping ferociously, I understood what Arnold had meant when he said he didn't think he would be so happy. It was such a foreign and amazing feeling to know that someone loved you. He knew my flaws and I knew his, but we loved each other anyway. Flaws and all.

With a grin, I kissed Arnold's scar on his shoulder. "Are you gonna ask me to move in with you now?" I asked mischievously.

Arnold stared at me in shock. "How did you - - "

"Oh, please. As if I wouldn't eavesdrop on your conversation with Phil and Gertie."

Arnold blinked. "So… all this time you've known?" he asked and when I nodded, he made an embarrassed frown. "I can't believe you…"

"What's so hard to believe?"

"That you'd… That you could… I don't know." Arnold confessed and I chuckled while he groaned. Then he seemed to realize something. "Is that why you got a job?"

I shrugged innocently. "I wanted to pitch in…" I admitted and smiled at him. Arnold gazed at me for a moment before he pulled me into a kiss. I gasped in surprise when I felt his body come back to life.

"What are you getting turned on for?!" I asked in disbelief.

"S-Sorry…" Arnold said, but he continued kissing me down my throat. He showed that he had no intention of stopping and I didn't him to stop either. From now on, I wouldn't stop myself from going for what I wanted. And what I wanted was Arnold. Now, tomorrow and for the rest of our lives.

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: Fret not! It is the last chapter, but there shall be an epilogue! X3 On a side note: How many of you recognized the name "Bigal's café?" xD It's from the intro of Hey Arnold! Apparently, it was probably supposed to have been named "Big Al's café", but there wasn't enough room so they had to squeeze it together and then it became like that xD**


	12. Our whole lives ahead of us

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.**

 **They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.**

 **Title: "Bad behavior"**

 **In the last chapter:** _ **Arnold decided it was time to meet Helga's parents once he had confessed his love to her and she agreed reluctantly. To both their surprise, Bob and Miriam accepted their relationship easily though not before Bob had warned them to protect themselves. Arnold confessed later to Helga that most of his cocky attitude had been pure acting on his part, but took it back when he realized that he wasn't that shy boy anymore.**_

 _ **After Arnold and Helga had made love for the first time, Helga told Arnold that she loved him. Happily he said he felt the same way and Helga couldn't help but admit that she knew about his plans to invite her move in with him.**_

 **Author's 1** **st** **note: I didn't realize I had forgotten to write how it went with Helga's poem in the competition until I randomly read the "In the last chapter" part when I had already uploaded the chapter xD Sorry about that! It'll be mentioned here instead ;D**

 **Also, this took a while because I realized I didn't have enough material for the part between the first scene and the scene after that xD So I ended up adding a lot of stuff by the end instead which wasn't planned, but meh Cx**

 **[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]**

* * *

Epilogue: "Our whole lives ahead of us"

"Let me help you with that." Arnold told me and grabbed the other side of the box I was currently struggling not to drop from my embrace.

"How gallant of you," I said sarcastically and tilted my head to the side to look at him. "especially since it's your stuff that's in this one."

"Details." Arnold said teasingly. I rolled my eyes and followed him inside the house. "Let's just put it here for now."

"Long live laziness." I agreed as we put the box in the middle of the living room. I looked at all the cardboard boxes around me and sighed. "I think that was the last one. How can a couple of 18-year-olds have so much shit?"

"Because we're a _pair_ of 18-year-olds and not just one."

"Still… it's gonna take forever to put everything in place." I groaned before reaching for a box to open it. I felt Arnold wrap his arms around me though and I arched my back, trying to look at him over my shoulder.

"You know what the best way to celebrate us moving in together would be?" Arnold asked with a smile I knew too well.

I hummed, pretending to think about it. "Unpacking everything?"

"Nope."

"A housewarming?"

"Helga." Arnold warned and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Sex." I stated bluntly, turned around in his embrace and kissed him tenderly. I was completely beat from carrying all of our stuff into our new house, but somehow Arnold always managed to put me in the mood. With a mischievous glint in his eyes, he wrapped his right arm around my waist and hoisted me up on his shoulder. "Are you insane?!" I asked as he carried me out of the room.

"Don't worry; I won't drop you." Arnold promised and put his left arm over the back of my knees to keep me steady.

"That's not what I'm worried about! You shouldn't strain your arm too much!" I shouted at Arnold even though I knew this boyfriend of mine could be just as stubborn and I was. It was probably a waste of breath to even try to shove some logic into that wide skull of his.

With a chuckle, Arnold let me fall down on the bed. "Why do you always have to worry so much about me?" he asked with a tender smile and hovered over me.

I snorted. "Somebody has to." I argued before he kissed my cheek. With a smile, I grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it over his head. I started snickering though and he looked at me, silently asking me what was so funny. "Remember how bad I was at getting you out of your shirts in the past?"

Arnold snickered loudly. "Sometimes it took you a whole minute."

"Your head's too wide dammit!" I complained, but cupped his cheeks and smiled lovingly at him. "But I love it…"

My hand automatically ran down the surgery scars on Arnold's right arm. They were almost faded at this point and he had recovered most of the function in his arm, but it still wasn't as strong as his left arm. It was miracle he hadn't become paralyzed in his right side though so I was eternally grateful. I thought about how reluctant he had been to show me the scars first time and how much he had changed since then. Now he didn't even have any problems going to the beach with me during the warm summers here in Hillwood. I was the one who got angry because of Arnold's scars though. People would sometimes stare at them and I had noticed that sometimes mothers would grab their children as if they expected Arnold to attack them. I always got so angry, but Arnold took such things calmly and elegantly. I sometimes wished I could be kind and understanding like that. But I'm not so that's that.

These last two years with Arnold had been nothing but wonderful. We weren't perfect by all means; we fought sometimes and our arguments could get so heated that we on more than one occasion had either broken something or hit the other. We were temperamental people, but that was what made us work; it was like when a tornado meets a hurricane. It was dangerous and destroying, but they had a certain similarity others didn't understand. It helped that we usually took our anger out on each other in the bedroom later and then would forget what we had even fought about.

* * *

"You know, usually I don't mind being late especially if the reason is you not being able to keep your hands off me, but it's really unacceptable when it's my own damn party." I told Arnold jokingly as I let the cocktail dress slide down my body, which I had bought only for this occasion.

" _My_ hands off _you_? Out of the two of us who is it who decided for a round four?"

"That's _your_ fault."

"How do you figure?"

"You were making those eyes!"

"Oh, these?" Arnold asked behind me and I turned to look at him. He was sending me a smoldering gaze through half-lidded eyes and I could feel myself shiver.

"Yeah, those." I admitted, but then noticed Arnold gawking at me. "What?"

"Please tell me that dress isn't a rental?"

I looked at myself in the mirror, smirking at Arnold in the reflection. "With the way you're looking at me, I would have bought it if it was." I replied, grabbed the dress and swayed it around. "You like?"

"Oh, me like…" Arnold replied and sauntered towards me. I gave him a warning glare, but he put his hands on my bare shoulder anyhow. "If only you knew what that dress does to me…"

"We don't have time for me to anything to you so back off." I said as if I was annoyed, but secretly I enjoyed that he seemed so desperate for me.

"You shouldn't have chosen that dress." He insisted with a pout and put his chin on my shoulder. "Remember how nervous you were the first time you entered a writing competition?"

"How could I?" I asked and put my hand over his. "I was so shaky that you had to open the damn letter."

Arnold snickered. "You actually passed out when you realized you had won."

"Hey, I had been so nervous for days that I didn't get any sleep." I argued, but laughed at the memory. "I've come so far since then."

"Yeah, no kidding, Mrs. Debut Writer." Arnold said, took my hand in his and kissed the back of it.

I sighed. "Debut, huh? I'm getting a little freaked out."

"Don't." Arnold told me and turned me around so he could look at me. "You're debuting tonight as a writer because you're amazing at what you're doing. Not a lot of people can say they debuted when they were 18-years-old."

"And maybe there's a good reason for that." I insisted and looked at my reflection nervously. "Well, at least I look the part I guess. I mean, you almost started drooling when you looked at me."

Arnold looked at my reflection. His eyes seemed to be looking for something. He was in such deep thought that he didn't notice me looking at him. I had to wave my hand in the mirror before he to come back to planet earth. I asked him if something was wrong and he hummed. He put his hand to his chin in a thoughtful manner and circled me as if he was a vulture. I asked him what he was doing when he finally stopped in front of me.

"Actually, there's something missing…" Arnold insisted. I looked down at myself, wondering what that something could be. I felt him take my left hand and I looked at him as he gazed at my fingers. "Your hand, it looks naked."

I quirked an eyebrow. "It's always naked." I insisted lamely and shrugged.

Arnold shook his head thought and looked at me with a smile. "Close your eyes." He told me in such a low voice that it was almost a whisper. I looked at him suspiciously for a moment before obeying. I could hear him fiddle with something and then I felt his other fingers on my hand. I made a silent gasp when I realized that he was sliding a ring on my finger. My ringfinger.

"Arnold…" I said in awe before he told me I could open my eyes. They sprung open the moment he said the first syllable and I stared at my hand. It was a silver ring that twisted into a pink diamond. It was simple, elegant and not too eye-catching; just the way I liked it. I had so many feelings running through me that it took me a few seconds before I realized that Arnold was talking to me.

"Two years ago… we told each other that we weren't sure if what we felt was love just yet… but that we were sure that we would feel it soon. I know now without a doubt in my mind that I do love you, Helga Geraldine Pataki." Arnold said and I would have frowned at his use of my middle name if it had been any other situation. "You are the biggest and most amazing surprise in my life. It scares me to think of what I might have become if you hadn't saved me that day. You have saved me every day since and have made me need you in a way that I didn't think I could need anyone. So I'm asking you to do me the honor of letting me become your husband."

I chuckled at the way Arnold had phrased the last sentence. He knew better than to ask me to become his wife and that small detail just meant the world to me. I already knew it, but it proved that he truly knew me through and through and accepted and even loved all of my quirks and my many, many flaws. He always told me I was amazing, but it was an amazing thing itself to be able to call a woman like me that. We had given each other plenty of reasons to leave over the last two years, but neither of us had. I couldn't imagine ever wanting to leave and if I did, I knew I'd come running back as long as my heart kept beating.

"I wanted to buy you a better ring, but I just couldn't wait." Arnold admitted with foggy eyes and I could see that he was holding back a toothy grin.

"I would have said yes even if you had given me a plastic ring." I said and could feel my own eyes getting misty.

"Now you tell me." Arnold joked, but I could hear that he was too happy to pull through with the sarcasm.

"If I could I'd marry you right now." I said earnestly.

"We could always go to Las Vegas." Arnold joked and we both laughed as we hugged. We held each other tightly for what felt like forever and that gave me time to think.

"My only real wish is for Gerald and Phoebe to be there… and Phil and Gertie with the rest of the boarders of course." I said thoughtfully.

"What about your family?" Arnold asked and I leaned back to shoot him an unamused look. "Point taken." He admitted with a laugh and kept looking at me. He seemed to slowly realize that I was being serious, but he asked me anyway.

"Why not?" I asked and thought about it one last time before I grinned. "Let's do it! Let's just be spontaneous and elope to Las Vegas! I don't need all that mushy stuff, all I want is you."

Arnold breathed in surprise and moved a lock of my hair behind my ear. "Are you serious?" he asked breathlessly. "Just like that?"

"Just like that… After the party, we'll just tell everyone to join us on an impromptu trip and just let them figure it out on their own as we get there."

"Oh, Helga, what if they have other plans tomorrow and… the day after?"

"We'll tell them this is more important."

"That's mean." Arnold said in something akin to disbelief, but then he grinned. "And so very you. Are you sure you really don't need anything else?"

"Arnold," I said seriously and showed him the ring he had just given me. "I don't even really need this. I mean, I love it, don't get me wrong, but… all I want is you."

"I know it's not perfect - - "

"But you're perfect for me." I interrupted.

Arnold smiled. "And you for me."

* * *

"If we what?" Gerald asked in shock and looked at Phoebe who looked just as surprised.

"Do you have any plans tomorrow?" I repeated and looked at Arnold who was currently talking to Phil and Gertie a little further away. "It's _really_ important that you don't."

"W-Well, nothing I can't cancel. What's going on, Helga?" Phoebe asked worriedly and took my hand. I almost pulled away, fearing she'd see the ring, but then remembered I had put it in my pocket to avoid anyone seeing it and thereby ruining the surprise. "Is something wrong?"

"No!" I insisted happily. "Nothing at all. Arnold and I just want to take you all somewhere for a couple of days. It's gonna be a road trip."

"Road trip?" Gerald repeated. "Where are we going?"

I hesitated, but then shrugged. "Nevada."

"Nevada?! That's like a 12 hour drive from Hillwood! What the hell are we doing there?" Gerald asked in horror and clearly seemed ready to decline my invitation.

Phoebe put a hand on his arm though. "Oh, come on. It sounds like fun. Let's just go with them, ok?" she asked.

Gerald looked at her as if she was insane, but then just shook his head. "Fine." He agreed, but he seemed terribly annoyed by the whole idea. Phoebe looked at me and smiled secretly. I smiled back, hoping she hadn't figured it out completely. She knew better than to question it though so she just grabbed Gerald's hand and followed him to their car.

I jogged towards Arnold whom I could see was clearly having issues with convincing the boarders, especially Phil who thought the whole thing seemed really fishy. Once I had joined Arnold, Phil started interrogating us. We answered as vaguely as possible, insisting they would want to go if they knew what we were doing. After a while, we finally convinced them and Gertie seemed extremely excited for this spontaneous adventure into the wild, mysterious jungle. Her words.

As Arnold and I walked to our own car with Gertie and Phil behind us, we agreed to at least message our other friends that couldn't be there tonight. I sent a message to my old classmates and some of the people I had gotten to know on the road to my debut. I also sent a message to Dr. Bliss though my hope for her showing up was very small.

* * *

"I'm pretty happy Patty and Harold are joining us." I admitted as I turned the car to the right.

"What about all the others?" Arnold asked as he looked at the other cars in the rearview mirror. To our surprise, most of my old classmates had been more than willing to join us. The only ones missing were some of my business associates.

I shrugged. "I'm happy, but I'm definitely gonna need Patty for this."

"Which means?" Arnold asked with a smirk.

I leaned closer to him and he did the same. "She's gonna be the one girl not crying at the actual ceremony." I whispered and leaned back.

"Except for you?" Arnold asked, but I tilted my head from side to side. I couldn't promise what my reaction would be. I was still having a hard time believing that we were doing this and so suddenly too. My feet weren't cold, not even a little bit, but they were tripping in excitement.

Suddenly I could hear Mr. Hyunh behind me. He, along with Phil, Gertie Susie and Oskar were in the car with me and Arnold. We had a Peugeot 5008 which was a 7 seater car. It was a congratulatory and apologetic gift from Olga for not being able to be there at my debut party. She herself was too busy with the million things she was doing and had bought me a car instead. It was definitely a good-looking car and I wasn't one to complain about getting free stuff. I may have pride, but I'm not an idiot.

"Is that…?" Mr. Hyunh asked in surprise as he pointed at a big Las Vegas sign. "It is! The city of sin!"

Oskar made his usual chuckle. "Lots of good gambling places here."

"Oh, Oskar." Suzie said and shook her head, but she looked at all the neon lights in curiosity. She clearly had never seen anything like it despite being married to someone like Oskar.

"Las Vegas?" Phil questioned behind us. "Short man, I may have been a big fan of Woodstock back in the day, but this isn't really my scene. I didn't think this was yours either?"

"It's not usually, but there's something here that I think we will all enjoy." Arnold answered and smiled secretly at me. He leaned closer to me. "I already booked a chapel by the way."

"You found a good one?" I whispered.

Arnold nodded. "Chapel of the flowers, it's dubbed the best and prettiest wedding chapel in Las Vegas."

"You sure we can get there on such short notice?"

"I already checked and we were lucky."

I sighed in relief. "What about dresses and tuxedoes?"

"We can rent both there."

"Perfect." I said with a smile and couldn't help but smile adoringly at Arnold. He leaned closer and kissed my cheek and it sent a giddy feeling through me.

"Is it just me or are those two more disgusting than usual?" Mr. Hyunh asked childishly.

At that moment, Phil gasped in realization and grabbed at my hand. I warned him that I was driving, but he clearly didn't care. "Where is it? Where is the ring, Short man?!" he asked in a complete frenzy.

"I-In my pocket!" I answered.

"Why is it not on your finger?"

"Because we wanted to surprise you all." Arnold explained and removed Phil's hands from me so I could drive safely.

"Wait, is that why we are here?" Suzie asked in shock. "You're getting married?"

"Yes." Arnold and I replied with big smiles on our faces.

The reaction to our wedding or rather our choice of location was mixed. While Gertie was excited about all the lights, Mr. Hyunh curious about the city of sin and Oskar happy about the gambling, Phil and Suzie didn't seem to like it much. Suzie didn't understand why we hadn't chosen something more romantic and Phil just seemed miffed that he hadn't been consulted first as the grandpa and, as he assumed, best man. They were all excited about the marriage itself though and started to wonder what kind of place Arnold had chosen, which I was curious about as well.

"Here it is; 1717 Las Vegas Boulevard." Arnold said and I leaned forward to look at the chapel and my eyes widened. It was absolutely gorgeous, like taken out of a fairytale. It looked nothing like a castle, but more like an elegant house in the forest. The place had natural beauty and I loved that I didn't feel completely out of place there. I had feared Arnold had chosen something so elegant that I would feel like a pauper.

"Arnold…" I said in a small voice, completely taken aback at how he managed to reserve such a place. I parked immediately and stepped out of the car to look around. While I was taking it all in, I didn't notice that Arnold had taken my hand. He was looking around as well and so was our guests.

"Well, I'll be damned." Ernie said in awe.

"It's a real nice place you've chosen here, Short man." Phil agreed.

"So much more romantic than I could have imagined." Suzie said with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Yes…" I agreed and finally looked at Arnold who was smiling broadly at me.

"Arnold!" we heard Gerald's voice yell and we turned to see him stomp towards us with Phoebe right behind him who was trying to calm him down. " _This_ is what you take us to? A chapel? You're getting married?!"

"Yes, we - - "

"Why didn't you say so, man?! You didn't even ask my advice before or anything." Gerald said and I noticed something in his eyes.

"Are you crying?" I asked in so much shock that there was no mockery in my voice.

"Of course not!" Gerald insisted even as he wiped his eyes. Arnold chuckled and pulled him into a hug while Phoebe did the same to me.

"Dude, you're tying the knot?!" Sid's voice echoed as he and my other classmates came running to us. "You're 18, that's really fishy. Are you knocked up, Helga?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, Sid. I simply want to marry Arnold." I said matter-of-factly and noticed Patty approaching me. She put her hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. She didn't have to do anything else but that.

Our guests approached us one by one, asking questions and congratulating us. To my utter happiness, I noticed that Dr. Bliss was here as well and had even brought her husband and daughter. We didn't have much time to talk before we were picked up by someone and the wedding planning started. While the boys were pulled away to get tuxedoes, the girls were pulled away to choose dresses. This had been the part I had feared because I had never actually pictured myself in a wedding dress and I had no idea what I'd even like. I knew what were no-goes though; anything that made me look like cotton candy, whipped cream or a powder puff, which I told the woman who was trying to help me choose a dress. It was Phoebe and Patty who found a dress for me, one I could definitely live with.

I looked at my reflection, holding out the skirt of the dress. It was a simple gown with thick straps over my shoulders. It had a round neckline with some lace around it and then tied close to my hips before flowing down my legs elegantly. The skirt was higher in the front though and showed off a bit of my shins before covering the rest of my legs completely. Rhonda had asked me if I didn't want something more extravagant, she even offered to pay it for me, but I liked this dress, I really did.

As much as I hated it, I had to admit that getting my hair done might be a good idea. I told the stylist repeatedly that I didn't want to look like a cupcake and she chuckled at my determination. She had then taken my hair in two parts only to twist them around my head and then together. She secured the hairdo with pins and put a few pink flowers in my hair. It was too cute, but I figured the pink flowers were a nice touch since my dress was more simple. A makeup artist had then struggled with me for a long time to find a suitable and simple look. She had finally chosen to give me black eyelashes and a bit of silver eyeshadow and some pink lips. She wanted to get more creative with me, but I refused.

I had completely shoved the thought of money out of my system when Nadine had asked about it. After texting Arnold, he told me he had chosen the basic ceremony and it would therefore cost us 350 dollars. I had almost made a backflip at the number, but quickly realized it was rather cheap for all the things we were getting. Also, there was a reason why we had collected enough money in two years to move in together. We had both worked really hard, but we both knew that it was thanks to my writing that we could do this. Arnold didn't like the thought of me paying for our wedding all alone, but he knew me better than to think he could change my mind about that.

"Are you ok, Helga?" Phoebe asked me as she put the veil around my hair. I nodded insistently, but I was honestly getting nervous. I looked at her in the mirror though and smiled at the blue bridesmaid gone she was wearing. Patty was wearing the same dress, but in a different shade of blue. My two bridesmaids were trying to calm me down the few minutes we had before the ceremony.

"If you don't wanna do this, I'll kidnap you." Patty insisted with a smirk.

I laughed, happy to hear her joking. It relaxed me. "Nah, I want to do this. I just have the wedding jitters."

"Arnold really chose everything with care, Helga." Phoebe told me and I urged her to keep talking. "He has chosen the Victorian chapel. It is most definitely the most beautiful chapel out of them all here."

"Victorian?" Patty repeated as she cringed her nose. "Isn't that kind of old-fashioned?"

"It is their most traditional chapel." Phoebe said. "It is adorned with velvet draperies, neutral-colored altar sprays and pew markers, crystal chandeliers, marble floors, and mahogany pews. It's really beautiful, Helga."

"How do you know all this?"

"I looked it up when you were getting your hair done."

"Arnold really went all out, huh?" Patty snickered and I snickered with her. "I never thought a wedding in Las Vegas could be beautiful. I was under the impression that it was tacky as hell."

"Me too." I confessed. "That's prejudice for ya'."

"Are you ready?" someone asked behind us. I took a deep breath and nodded before turning around. The man smiled at me before he disappeared. Phoebe and Patty followed me to the Victorian chapel and I could hear traditional wedding music playing inside. I could feel my legs shaking and Phoebe noticed.

"As soon as you see him that feeling will go away."

"You promise?" I asked lamely.

Phoebe nodded and then approached the door that opened before her and she started walking down the aisle. Patty patted my back before she walked down the aisle as well. I took some deep breaths, fiddled with the single pink rose in my hands and then walked up to the doorframe. The guests were all staring at me and I saw the photographer taking my picture in what I assumed was supposed to be a secretive manner, but my eyes immediately caught Arnold's. He seemed to be holding his breath the same way I was, but then we exhaled simultaneously and smiled at each other. I imagined him laughing on the inside for being so nervous, just like I was. I then walked down the aisle and approached my husband-to-be without hesitation.

The ceremony is somehow a blur to me honestly. All I can remember is staring at Arnold through the whole thing and the fact that I did indeed cry once I said I do. To be fair though, Arnold cried at the exact same time so he had clearly affected me. The ceremony had been absolutely beautiful and when the priest told Arnold to kiss the bride, he smirked at me, clearly already knowing that I would grab him by his waist and swing him down into a Hollywood kiss. My action had given us a hearty laugh from our guests.

The reception took place in the Glass Gardens outside and I remember dancing until my feet were sore because of the high-heeled borrowed wedding shoes. When it was way past midnight, we drove to a hotel nearby that wasn't nearly as elegant as Chapel of the flowers, but that night it looked like a castle to me. Once Arnold and I had said our goodbyes to our guests and had been congratulated for the thousandth time, Arnold had scooped my into his arms bridal style. I had screamed at him to let me down, but he used my sore feet as an excuse. I had let him do as he wanted, figuring that after all the wedding planning he'd had to do alone since I had been driving us to Las Vegas, he deserved to get a free ticket.

Our wedding night may not have been the first time we made love, but it sure is one of the most memorable nights of my life. We had ended up finally falling asleep at dawn and I remember commenting how yellow the morning sun was in my exhausted state of mind. Arnold had agreed tiredly, snuggled me in his arms and we had slept the whole day away. We didn't wake up until it was late evening and we were invited by our guests to go out celebrating our marriage. The word itself still sent a tinkle down my body.

Needless to say, our honeymoon was short-lived, but filled to the brink with memories. Our nosy guests made sure to take us to different places and made sure we didn't have to lift a finger in order to make memories. Most couples might have wanted to be alone these particular days, but Arnold and I loved that our friends and family cared so much. Besides, it wasn't like we weren't going to get more chances to be alone together. We had our whole lives ahead of us after all.

 **The end**

* * *

 **Author's 2** **nd** **note: And that's the end of it! So I did go beyond the 10-chapter quota I had imagined, but not by much xD This was a lot of fun to write and I do love to experiment with some Dark Arnold :P**

 **Oh, and Helga's wedding dress is basically the same as in the "Married" episode in case anyone was wondering :P**

 **Now, to those of you wondering what I will be writing next: I can't say for sure since I, as always, have a million different ideas. I do want to get some of my shorter ideas out of the way though before starting a big project next. It's summer right now though and I'm busy with all the memories I wanna make with my friends before school starts again xD But don't worry, you probably don't have to wait too long before I start my next story :P Until then, enjoy summer! :D**


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